Captain Possible and the Centurion Legacy!
by Jurnee Jakes
Summary: A Kim Possible/Captain Power fusion. My first venture into an alternate universe where Dr. Drakken succeeded in conquering the world at the end of So the Drama. Armed with GJ technology and new Centurion Battle Armor, Kim fights to finally defeat Drakken.
1. A Twist In Fate

** A Twist In Fate**

June, 2005; Known as Diablo Night

"Wade, I really don't have time for this right now." Kim Possible said in irritation. She was sitting in front of the mirror in her room, applying her makeup in preparation for the Prom tonight. She felt elated, knowing Erik would be here any moment.

"Kim, this is important." came Wade's somewhat tinny sounding voice from the Kimmunicator that was lying on her bed. "The battle suit is a powerful piece of state of the art equipment. It'll definitely give you an edge against Shego."

"Fine." she sighed, smearing lipstick across her lips before giving them a smack. "Give me the downlow." Tonight was going to be the night Erik would kiss her. She knew it.

"The battlesuit is based on the scans I took of the Centurion Project." Wade began to explain.

"You mean the wrist band thingy that grew whenever I lied?" she recalled, annoyed at the memory and subsequent month long grounding.

"The very one. I removed the biometric trigger that caused it to engage when the wearer becomes stressed." Wade continued, and Kim gave a sigh of relief. If she had been wearing the Centurion Project now, she would look like a battle tank. "It's also now a lot more discreet!"

Kim turned when she heard the chime of a hologram being projected from the Kimmunicator. She frowned, getting up from her chair to take a closer look. "Doesn't leave much to the imagination, does it?" The suit was nothing more than a body glove, with a single hip pouch attached to a belt being the only accessories. "So what does it do besides hug my curves?"

Wade crossed his arms in the tiny screen. "It's meant to hide under clothing." he said, as though it should be obvious. "Unfortunately, I haven't quite gotten the forceshield technology perfected yet. When activated, it'll repel anything not directly connected to the suit, such as the aforementioned clothing."

"Wonderful... Wait, forceshield?" she asked, suddenly intrigued.

"Yep!" Wade replied proudly. "This technology will stand up to anything. But it drains the suit's power very quickly, so it should only be used sparingly."

"Forceshield tough. Don't leave it on. Gotchya." Kim replied, returning to her vanity to continue putting her makeup on for her date.

"The suit itself can also regenerate, something I managed to incorporate from the Centurion Project. I've built an energy absorption cup into the right forearm, and myonetic systems run throughout the material."

Kim raised her eyebrows for a moment, looking at the Kimmunicator through her mirror. "Once more, in English please and thank you."

"The energy absorption cup is a cybertronic gauntlet that can catch, then either absorb or release raw energy."

"You mean like Shego's glow."

"Or lasers, or even electrical energy."

"Spankin'." Kim said, a faint piece of her mind that wasn't focused on the approaching evening coming up with ways to use the gadget. "And the myo thingies?"

"Myonetics." Wade corrected.

"You just made that up." Kim said, pulling the light blue dress she had bought for the prom over her head.

"Yes I did." Wade grinned. "It'll enhance your speed and strength by enhancing your natural musculature, like the Centurion Project did when Shego collapsed the building on you."

"Can we leave that Halloween in the past for..."

"Kimmie!" her mother called from downstairs. "There's a very handsome young man here for you!"

"I've also got some ideas for energy to matter transformation..."

But Kim had stopped paying attention. She stood and performed a flip onto her bed to scoop the Kimmunicator into her purse before sliding her feet into her high heeled sandals. "Here's hoping that Drakken's not going to ruin my night." she said, taking a breath and smoothing her dress. 'Tonight is going to be perfect' she told herself before walking to the top of the stairs.

At the bottom of the steps, her mother, father, and Erik were looking up at her. She couldn't help but smile at Erik's grin as she began descending the stairs, her dress sparkling and reflecting the colors that were shining through the chandelier hanging in the foyer.

Suddenly, the loud crack of a rocket launch caused Kim to instinctively duck as her twin brothers, Jim and Tim, flew by with rocket packs strapped to their backs, leaving a trail of exhaust in their wake. "Tweebs!" Kim cried, glaring at the pair as they soared down the stairs uncontrollably. Her parents stepped to the side, and Erik flung the door open behind him with inhuman reflexes, ducking under one of the boys, and leaping over the other.

"Whoa, good reflexes!" Mr. Dr. Possible said, climbing to his feet.

Erik nodded with a smile. "Thank you, sir."

"Is he perfect?" Kim whispered to her mother when she reached the bottom of the stairs.

"He seems very nice." Mrs. Dr. Possible replied, assuring her daughter with a smile. As Kim took a few steps to join Erik at the front door, her mother cast a sidelong glance at a picture of Kim and her best friend Ron Stoppable that hung on the wall. They had just become teenagers then, with Kim still wearing braces on her teeth and Ron flashing a goofy smile. They both looked happy then, but since Erik had come into Kim's life, things simply didn't seem the same.

Kim's father pushed the young couple together and backed away with his digital camera. "Aren't your folks gonna stop by? Get a few shots?"

"It's just my Dad." Erik replied. "And he's always at work. Like right now he's in the middle of some big time project!"

"Oh, I know that story!" Mr. Dr. Possible chuckled. "I know, I'll get double prints!" he said excitedly, aiming his camera at the pair.

* * *

  
Ron Stoppable trudged his way into Buenos Nachos, his hands nearly dragging along the shiny floor of the Mexican Fast Food restaurant. It was the home of the Naco, Ron's claim to riches and glory for a whole two days, as well as his first place of employment. It was his haven; or had been until someone wound up buying the franchise and turning it into a playplace for ankle biting toddlers.

He ignored the little Diablo shaped balloons, and the toys that stood on the counter. His mind was elsewhere, and he wanted nothing more than to drown his sorrow in soda and melted cheese.

While getting ready for his prom, he had had a man to rodent talk with Rufus, his pet Naked Mole Rat, about his feelings for Kim. Once he realized how futile it would be to reveal those feelings at the prom while Kim was with Erik, he had stripped off his light blue tuxedo and instead decided to return here to Buenos Nachos. It was late now and the restaurant was an hour away from closing, so he hoped that the new influx of snivelling minors would be at home.

"Welcome to Buenos Nacho. May I take your order?" Ned, the employee at the counter asked in a feigned cheery voice. When the physically robust manager behind him turned away, he held up a food tray to whisper to Ron. "Ron, something's very wrong!"

When Ron turned to him, Ned was standing normally again, and he paid the warning no mind. He sighed. "Got that right." he said, looking up at the menu. "Let's see... Two chimberitos, grande size; three orders of Nacos, and a grande sized soda to go." Rufus poked his bucked toothed and whiskered pink face out of Ron's pants pocket and chittered in protest. "Okay, make it for here. Rufus can't wait."

"Si!" Ned replied cheerfully as Lars, the manager walked by behind him, busily preparing Ron's order. When the large man was out of earshot, Ned whispered. "Ron, snap out of it! Somethin' weird is goin' on here!"

"Ned, you worthless slug!" Lars shouted from behind him with all the energy of a marine corp drill sergeant, using his managerial clipboard to force Ned's chin up in order to glare at him in the eye. "Did you ask our favorite customer if he'd like a Diablo sauce with that?!"

"I did not, sir!" Ned said. "Diablo?" he asked, holding up a yellow condiment packet to Ron.

Ron wasn't paying attention, instead looking down at the floor and staring at his pitiful reflection. "Huh? Yeah, sure. Whatever."

As Lars walked away to gather Ron's order, Ned quickly opened the packet of hot sauce and drew a word on the food tray, hoping that his boss wouldn't notice. "Here it is!" Lars announced. "Nice and hot." He set the fast food down on the tray, with a formal "Gracious." and elbowed Ned to do the same.

"And have a muay bueno day!" Ned waved.

Ron grudgingly took his food tray to an empty booth and set it down, slouching sadly on the padded bench. As he did, Rufus leaped from his pocket and dived into the Nacos, swallowing chips nearly whole with his skinny bald tail wagging in delight. Then the tiny rodent chewed through half of a chimberito and only took a moment to swallow when he noticed the Diablo hot sauce on the food tray.

Moving the various cartons of Mexican food out of the way, he saw the message that was written in smeared sauce.

'EVIL'

Rufus screeched, then turned in an effort to get Ron's attention as he pulled his soda drink straw from it's paper wrapper. "No..." he said, narrowing his eyes. "It can't be... Noooooooooo!" he shouted, slamming his fist on the table, causing everyone to look in his direction. He slid out of his booth with a mission on his mind, glaring at Lars as he approached the ordering counter. "This is the last straw!"

"I beg your pardon?!" Lars said, confused.

Ron held up his straw in anger. "This is the last straw!"

"No!" Lars replied, holding up a full carton of straws. "We've got more in the back!"

Ron climbed up onto the counter to look Lars in the eyes. "You took away the bendy straws!"

Lars returned the glare, finally understanding. He slapped away the straw that was being held in his face and set Ron back on the floor on the other side of the counter. "You sir, have lost it."

"Why?! Just because I care?!" Ron shouted, pushing the straw back into Lars' face.

"About bendy straws." the much larger man said with a laugh, flicking the straw so that it bounced off of Ron's forehead.

"I'm telling on you!" Ron whined.

"Telling who?"

"Your boss." Ron grinned, turning to run out the door to the payphone outside. "Wade?!" he asked when the ten year old computer genius picked up the phone on the other end. "I'm at Buenos Nachos, and I've got comments and concerns!"

Wade put the soda cup down that he had been slurping and moved the Diablo toy out of his way to type. "Okay... Want me to patch you through to their eight hundred number?"

"No way." Ron replied. "I wanna go right to the top. Gonna have words with the head honcho!"

"I don't know, Ron. Getting through to a CEO is not easy." Wade told him, beginning to type at his computer system. "This guy's private line is probably super top secret... Got it, you're in!"

Ron waited a moment as the phone rang twice, then held his breath in anticipation, his mind working through dozens of frustrations he'd felt over the last few months since Buenos Nachos had changed. "Hola!" said a familiar voice. "Buenos Nachos. El Presidente speaking!"

"Dr. Drakken?" Ron asked in disbelief, all of his rants coming to a sudden end.

"If this is about switching my long dista..." continued the voice on the phone as the receiver was taken out of Ron's hand.

"Dr. Drakken is a very busy man, Ron Stoppable." Lars said from behind Ron as he hung up the phone. "There is no need to bother him.

A high pitched scream caught Ron's attention and he looked back at the restaurant to see Ned and Rufus running from something inside the eatery. A few moments later, they charged out through the front door, screaming. The large double doors swung closed, then slowly opened as dozens of the tiny red, yellow and black Diablo toys marched through them.

They walked in perfect formation, turning to face Ron as a single unit as Ned ran past him and Rufus dived into his pocket, snapping the cover shut. The four inch tall robotic toys surrounded Ron, and Lars backed away from him, pointing a finger. "Diablos, attack!"

The Diablo toys began to move again, closing in around Ron as he tried to find a clear path out of the encircling robots. They began climbing up his shoes and pant legs, their tiny hands easily finding purchase on his cargo pants. Soon, they reached his knees and Rufus popped out of Ron's pocket, batting them away.

Ron shook his head, climbing up onto the payphone. "Hey!" he said, finally realizing that they may be evil, but they were still toy sized. He brushed them off, and leaped as far as he could for his scooter that was parked nearby. As he landed, several of the toys clung to his legs and he managed to kick them off as he crawled toward his scooter.

Scooping his helmet onto his head, Ron kicked at the electric starter, his heart falling when it only sputtered. "Come on, come on!" he cried, trying desperately to start the vehicle. The Diablos he had kicked away climbed to their feet, and the soldier-like toys spun around in unison, marching after him. The scooter sputtered again and again as they climbed onto the rear tire and the sides of the bike. Suddenly, the engine revved to life and the rear tire spun, tossing a few of the Diablos into the air.

Ron looked down at the slowing passing concrete below him and groaned. "This thing is junk! Am I the only one to notice this?!" he said aloud. Rufus clambered out of his pocket, climbing down along the side of the scooter where several of the toys were continuing to climb up in order to get to Ron. He slapped two of the machines off and tossed another, and the scooter suddenly lifted up, accelerating greatly as Lars leaped at Ron. But the scooter whipped around the drive through menu, causing Lars to crash into it as Ron made his escape.

* * *

  
Kim was spinning and shaking around Erik in a graceful dance that had nearly every eye in the gymnasium on her. Without warning, she stopped as her distinctive four tone Kimmunicator cellphone ring caught her attention. Leaving the dance floor, she made her way to where she left her purse on a table that Monique was sitting at. She was about to answer it when her friend looked up at her in disappointment. "What?" Kim asked, her thumb poised to answer the mobile phone.

"Shouldn't you let that go to voicemail?" Monique asked.

"What if it's important?" Kim replied defensively.

"More important than..." Monique began, then turned her attention to Kim's boyfriend as he approached. "Erik! Hi!"

"Hey Monique." Erik said in greeting. He looked down at Kim's Kimmunicator with a frown. "I think Wade would understand."

Kim looked at the device, then at Erik and smiled. The world owed her this night. She had saved it so many times, it could survive this one night without her. Reluctantly, she stuffed the gadget back into her purse and dropped it on the table, taking Erik's waiting hand. "Yeah..."

* * *

  
Ron let out a sigh of relief as he sped toward the Middleton High School to warn Kim about Drakken's Diablo plot. He had managed to get away from the robotic toys on his scooter, at least for the moment... Movement in his side mirrors caught his attention, and he looked behind him at a wave of black and red covering the street. The horde of Diablo toys were running in an attempt to catch him, and were moving fast enough to do it.

"Aw man!"

Ron forced his scooter into a power slide, riding down the sidewalk to the front door of the gymnasium. Breathing heavily, he dumped his helmet onto the seat of the scooter and charged into the loud gymnasium. "The Diablo toys are evil!" he screamed, becoming tangled in the arch of balloons surrounding the door.

The music went silent and the lights came on as everyone turned to look at him. He noticed Kim first, whose look of surprise quickly changed to one of disappointment. Still hearing the sound of tiny metal feet moving at a full run, he turned and pointed. "See?!" he shouted. But there was nothing but his scooter on the sidewalk. He stepped out, searching around his electric bike for the menacing little toys. "Wha... Where are they?"

"You okay, dude?" Erik asked, putting a comforting hand on Ron's shoulder.

"Okay, I know that tone!" Ron bit back angrily. "That's the 'Ron's making up the whole thing' tone! Well it doesn't matter what you think, or what anybody else thinks, because my friend Kim will believe me! Right Kim?" he asked, turning to face her.

"Oh, I... Uh, totally believe you." she said hesitantly, still uncertain herself. "The toys were here..."

"And they were evil!" Ron shouted, clenching his fists for emphasis.

"Right. Sure..." she added.

"Buckle up Kim, because it gets weirder."

"Oh, I'll bet." Kim said, beginning to get annoyed at her best friend for spoiling her prom night.

"Drakken is behind the whole thing!" Ron exclaimed.

Erik couldn't help but laugh. "The take over the world, mad scientist guy?!"

"Yes! It's all so obvious!" he said, batting a nearby balloon with his hand. "He's using the more than thirty thousand Buenos Nachos locations worldwide to hand out his evil prizes!"

Kim looked at Ron with wide eyes, curious how he always managed to jump to such conclusions. Then she realized his conclusion jumps were usually correct, and she narrowed her eyes. "I'm going to check this out."

"What?!" Erik said in disbelief.

"Ron might be on to something..."

"His whole story is ridiculous!" Erik insisted.

"Erik..." Kim whispered, suddenly uncomfortable in having to choose between her best friend and her boyfriend.

Ron suddenly barged in between them, getting into Erik's face. "Hey, back off pretty boy!"

Kim sat at a nearby table with Ron and Erik to either side and pulled her Kimmunicator from her purse. "Kim! I've been trying to reach you!" Wade said the moment the connection was made. "Drakken's been discovered."

"You're sure it was Drakken?" Kim asked, a tinge of regret suddenly gnawing at her for not answering when he'd called.

"Voice print match confirms it."

"Got anything on Ron's evil toy theory?"

"Yeah." Wade frowned. "It looks bad."

"How bad?" Kim asked, raising a skeptical eyebrow.

"All bad." he replied. "I scanned the one I got in my Lil Nino's meal. The circuitry is way beyond anything I've ever seen! It's like a real robot, only tiny."

"Better show it to an expert." Kim nodded

"Who?" Ron asked from beside her.

"My dad." she said with a smile, feeling as though she was in her element. "I'll be back as soon as I can."

"But..." Erik said, standing as Kim got up to leave.

She put a finger to his lips and smiled. "It's a save the world thing." she said, moving out the door and climbing onto Ron's scooter. Ron followed after her, putting his own finger against Erik's lips with a mocking grin.

* * *

  
Within a few minutes of traveling on Ron's scooter; Kim, Ron, and Rufus found themselves in the Possible family garage with Kim's father, James, looking over one of the tiny Diablo toys. "I do not believe it!" James shouted, pulling away from the microscope on the desk.

"What?" Kim asked, curious.

"They're totally evil, right?" Ron asked, looking over the man's shoulder.

"The cybertronic technology. It's the Hephaestus Project!" James exclaimed, recognizing the nanocircuitry that could only have been created using the unique forge that his scientific team had been experimenting with. "He used MY technology to build these things!"

"Y'know, Drakken's pretty stupid." Ron commented, earning him confused looks from both Kim and her father. "Oh, come on! He steals a three billion dollar technology and just gives it away with a burrito, and yet he ditches the bendy straws?! This man does not know how to run a fast food business!"

"Dad, I think I need to know what this Hephaestus Project is." Kim said, grabbing her purse as they began moving up to the living room where Kim's mother and brothers were watching television.

Dr. Possible hesitated for a moment, but knew that despite the highest levels of security required to know about the project, it was already in the wrong hands. "It's a biomechanical alloy that can react and evolve like organic tissue, except on a transfinite scale. The applications are literally limitless!"

"Great..." Kim said, suddenly unenthused.

"How's it going down there?" Anne asked, looking up from the television. Jim and Tim were playing with their own mini Diablo toys at the coffee table, and only half paying attention to the program playing on the TV.

"That Drakken fellow stole my technology to build those little..." James began, then realized he was in the company of his children. "Diablos."

"We're playing with stolen technology!" Jim said with a mischievous grin.

Tim looked down at the pair of red, black, and yellow devilish looking toys with a satisfied smile. "Cool!"

"The craze is off the chain." Kim stated, recalling the rapid expansion of popularity that had surrounded the little toys over the past few months.

Ron had come to the same conclusion. "Every kid in the world must have one!"

"Dad, you said the Hephaestus Project was some kind of... living metal?" Kim asked.

James turned back to his daughter with a smile. "That's how we sold it to the board of directors. The cybertronic circuitry can repair itself, modify itself. It can actually grow!" The rest of the family were suddenly silent, watching the pair of toys on the coffee table with unease. "Don't worry." James said with a chuckle. "It can't to anything without a command signal."

Ron was about to comment when high pitched pulsing sound echoed through the house, originating from the pair of toys, as though they were suddenly communicating with some external signal. "Move!" Kim shouted, pulling Tim away from the Diablo toys as James picked up Jim.

Arcs of electricity began to cover the tiny robots, and their legs elongated rapidly, breaking the coffee table they had been standing on. Their hip piece grew, then their torso lengthened into a flexible set of shiny scales as their chests widened. The arms grew out with the same flexible material, and their tiny clasp like hands converted into wicked looking pincers. They were nearly ten feet tall now, and the capital D on their foreheads swung down over their yellow glowing eyes into a set of horns that matched the intimidating grill they now wore on their faces.

"Move it!" Kim ordered her Dad. "Get Mom and the boys out of here! We'll distract the Diablos." James ushered his wife and twin boys out of the living room.

Ron narrowed his eyes, pointing to his pocket as the Diablos glared down at their targets. "Rufus, we're on!" The tiny mole rat poked his head out of the pocket, still half asleep, and screamed at the sight of the fifteen foot tall mechanical monster.

Kim performed a number of flips and handsprings away from the Diablos as her family ran toward the garage for safety. Grabbing the doorframe, she lifted herself out of the way of a plasma blast that was fired from a cannon in the robot's arm before spinning and landing, looking down at the bottom of her smoldering dress. She narrowed her eyes at the Diablo in anger, preparing to charge back into the house to rescue Ron. "Do you know how much baby sitting I had to do to pay for this dress?!"

She leaped forward, rolling between the Diablo's legs before back flipping off of the couch. The Diablo spun it's torso around, converting it's plasma cannons into spinning, gold circular saws that converged on Kim's position. Feeling the wind blow off the saws as they passed dangerously close, Kim leaped up onto the Diablo's arm and sprinted up to it's shoulder, diving back down to the floor in Ron's direction.

Streams of plasma followed her movements as she handsprung toward Ron, who was cowering at the feet of the second Diablo and seemingly waiting for the giant robot to squish him. "That would be so cool if it wasn't the last thing we were ever gonna see!" he whimpered, a moment before Kim pulled him out of the way of the Diablo's descending claw that crashed into the floor.

The other Diablo converted it's dual saws back into plasma cannons, firing at Kim and Ron through it's partner and blowing a neat hole through it's chest before pushing it out of the way. It continued to follow Kim and Ron, crumbling the front wall of the Possible house as it did and shaking the ground with it's waddling gait.

The two teens split up and the Diablo looked to either one before settling on Kim as a target, firing it's plasma cannons as she dived and rolled out of the way.

Noticing that Ron was only standing in one place and shaking, the Diablo changed targets and aimed. "Ron!" Kim shouted in irritation, running forward and pushing him out of the way. She caught sight of her father roll out from under the garage door and grab Ron's scooter, sneaking it past the Diablo and back in.

"How are we gonna beat this thing?!" Ron shouted as he and Kim shielded themselves from spraying concrete as a plasma burst tore up the driveway.

"We need to get it away from the house!" Kim replied, giving Ron a shove and back flipping away as the Diablo tried to crush them with a claw. "We need some time to contact Wade!"

"Got it covered, KP!" Ron shouted back, pulling Rufus from his pocket. "Okay buddy, you know what to do." he whispered. The naked mole rat gave a crisp salute and grinned, straightening his body for a throw. "Hey, Diablo!" he shouted, readying Rufus. "Say 'ello to my little friend!"

The Diablo glared down at Ron, charging both of it's plasma cannons as Ron tossed Rufus directly at the menacing cybertronic robot's face, then ran to the side. Rufus scurried over the Diablo's eyes and around it's head, causing the robot to convert it's cannons into large claws again. With the Diablo distracted and stumbling around in an attempt to grab the rodent, Kim and Ron dived behind a hedge that lined the driveway.

"Where's our help?!" Ron shouted as Kim pulled the Kimmunicator from her purse.

Immediately, the grisly sight of Wade's room being destroyed by a giant Diablo arm appeared on the screen, bashing against the desk and equipment until the webcam shifting, showing Wade hiding under the desk. "Wade, we've got a problem."

"If it has anything to do with a giant robot, I think I can relate." he replied calmly.

"My Dad says they need a command signal."

"Makes sense. You take out the signal, you shut down the robots." Wade said, then shook his head. "But I'm not really in a position to track the signal for you."

"It must be coming from the source of all things evil!" Ron exclaimed.

"Pardon?" Kim asked, not entirely certain that Ron hadn't suddenly lost his mind.

"Buenos Nachos." he answered dramatically. Suddenly, Rufus came scurrying through the hedge and dived into Ron's pocket, shivering. Within moment, the hedge vanished in a blaze of fire that streamed out of an arm mounted flamethrower on the Diablo.

"Kimmie!" James shouted from the garage door. "Think fast!" He flung two bike helmets toward the teens, and Ron's scooter came zipping out of the garage with twin rockets welded to its sides.

The scooter passed between the teens and the Diablo, and Ron grabbed the handlebars as they flew by, pulling himself onto the seat with Kim pulling herself onto the scooter behind him.

The Diablo glared after them with glowing yellow eyes. Within seconds, it's large cylindrical feet had large treads that protruded out of them and rockets engines formed on its heels, projecting the deadly machine forward at tremendous speed.

Kim and Ron were riding away on the rocket propelled scooter as trees and houses flew by in a blur. Diablos could be seen all over the city, causing random scenes of destruction and smoke plumes wherever their weaponry found a target. Despite the noise coming from the thrusters mounted on the sides of the scooter, Kim could hear the distinctive sound of steel treads on pavement and looked over her shoulder. The Diablo bot was chasing them now, tearing up asphalt as it skated along on it's treads. It was still growing now that it had space to maneuver, reaching at least twenty five feet tall by now, and it began firing it's cannons again.

"Bank left!" she shouted into Ron's ear, and he leaned without question, narrowly dodging a plasma burst that caused a crater in the road.

"How do we get the rockets to go faster?!" he shouted back.

Rufus struggled out of his pocket, crawling along the side of the scooter to where the twin rockets were mounted and positioned himself between the thrusters, grimacing against the blazing exhaust. On the underside of each rocket was an afterburner trigger, and Rufus reached out with his hind legs while hanging onto the bike's license plate with his forepaws. With the flick of the trigger, both rockets turned from yellow-orange to bright blue flame that reached out several feet as the scooter pulled away rapidly from the pursuing Diablo.

The trio neared the Middleton Buenos Nachos, and the pulsing sound of the Diablo's command signal continued getting louder. Ron gestured up at the restaurants Taco shaped sign, which was now flattened with the giant plastic tomato laying down and a long pole sticking out of the middle and pointing into the sky. "He even changed the giant taco sign!" Ron shouted.

"That's where the command signal's coming from." Kim realized, noticing the distinct satellite dish shape of the transformed sign.

Ron frowned. "How are we going to take that out?"

"Maybe we won't have to." Kim grinned.

As they neared the restaurant, Ron throttled up the bikes own electric motor, causing the front end to rise off of the street. The rockets launched the scooter and its occupants into the sky and he pulled on the brakes, hoping that Kim's family had wired the rockets into them.

Lars ducked as the scooter sailed over his scarred, bald head, and he looked up angrily as it screeched to a stop on the rim of the giant sombrero that made up the roof of the restaurant. "Hey!"

"Lookin' the wrong way, Dude!" Ron shouted down at him. Lars turned and let out a high pitched scream as the Diablo sped toward him. He dived out of the way as the Diablo bot continued to charge toward Kim and Ron, knocking satellite dish off of it's tall mount with a shoulder. Both gold claws were extended and ready to sever both teens in two as the Diablo reached out to them, only inches away.

Then it paused, it's glowing yellow eyes staring blankly at them until it dropped out of sight, shrinking and returning to its normal, harmless toy form in a flurry of arching electricity until it's eyes dimmed and it fell over onto its side.

Kim could feel intense static slowly dissipating as her hair stood on end and her burned dress stuck to her legs despite the wind. As the Kimmunicator rang out in its four note tone, Kim reached into her purse with a tiny spark arching from her fingertips. "Wade!" she said, activating the device and seeing the twelve year old, African American boy appear on screen. "You're okay!"

"Yeah. The Diablo has shutdown and shrunk down." he said, adjusting his webcam. "Thanks to you I'm guessing."

"I think we took out the command signal." Kim said, looking out over the city. There were no more towering behemoths wrecking havoc, and all was eerily silent.

"Which sounds alot like a good thing... Right?" Ron asked, hoping that the excitement for the night was over.

"That's weird." Wade added, tapping some keys. "Just got a hit on your site."

Wade's image was instantly replaced by Dr. Drakken's, and he was wearing a far too confident grin to have just had his world domination plot foiled. "Congratulations Miss Possible. You've already discovered how to foil my evil scheme. In record time, I might add." he said sarcastically. She had been trying to discover what he had been up to for the better part of a few months, with nothing to show for it. "It is most unfortunate, however, that this time you will not stop me." he grinned, clenching a fist for a menacing and dramatic effect "You will surrender."

"As if." Kim smiled, clearly unfazed.

"As if, if!" Ron chimed in.

Drakken pressed on. "Shego popped by your school dance and met the nicest boy. Well, I don't have to tell you how nice he is! And cute." he said in a sing song voice. The camera panned aside to another part of the room where Shego was holding Erik in place with one hand wrapped in green energy.

"Kim? What... what's going on?" Erik asked, his voice wavering in fear.

"Erik!" Kim gasped.

"The choice is yours, Kimberley Ann! If you care about your dear Erik's safety, surrender is your only option." he grinned. The image of her arch foe reverted back to Wade, and the boy cringed at the look of anger on Kim's face.

"What are you gonna do, Kim?"

"Where's that battle suit, Wade?" Kim asked.

"I had a vault installed in the back of your closet, sealed with a biometric hand print and reinforced with double strength titanium. Only an extremely large blaster device could break through..." Wade explained.

"I'm going to need..." Kim began as she and Ron climbed back onto the scooter. "Wait... you had a vault installed in my closet? When? How?"

Wade shrugged, looking away from the webcam innocently.

"Whatever." Kim growled. "Go over the specs again for me."

* * *

  
"Kim, wait up!" Ron shouted as he raced up to Kim. He was still trying to pull on his black shirt that he always wore for going on missions. Kim was dressed in some kind of skin tight, blue and white suit and climbing onto his rocket modified scooter. "What's with the new threads, KP?" he asked, moving to climb onto the scooter behind Kim.

"Not this time." Kim said, looking Ron in the eye. In her heart, Kim knew she should let him come. Ron had always been there with her, for her, doing his best. Once in awhile getting lucky in the battles against villainy. But this time, Drakken had made it personal. If she was going to save Erik, she couldn't have him getting in the way. Kim looked into Ron's confused brown eyes with her own angry, green eyes. "I'm sorry, Ron. It's too dangerous."

Ron folded his arms and returned Kim's look. "Too dangerous? Kim, it's Drakken and Shego. We've faced them, like sixty times or so and always made it out. Together."

"Ron, I don't have time for this, alright? This isn't like other times. Drakken's made it personal." Kim insisted before revving the throttle on the scooter. She rode about twenty feet, Ron chasing after her, before igniting the rockets that had been mounted on the sides by her parents and she bolted away.

"Ronald?" Mr. Possible asked as he, his wife, and their twin boys came out to find him standing in the street in front of their house, shoulders slumped and looking dejected. "Why aren't you with Kim?"

"She said it was too dangerous for me." Ron said absently. "She's never left me behind before..."

"Ron..." Mrs. Possible said, holding the boy's shoulders. "Kim is just hurt and confused. She wanted someone to step up and be someone she could lean on when things got to be too much. Erik did that."

Ron's lip quivered. "I did that. I thought I had done that, anyway..."

"Ronald." Mr. Possible said in his no nonsense, authoritative voice. "My Kimmie-cub chose Erik because he's tall, dark, intelligent, and handsome..." he explained, looking down into Ron's steadily diminishing confidence. "... but primarily because he chose to share what he felt for her."

"It's true!" Jim chimed in.

"We read her diary!" Tim exclaimed.

"We've seen you two together for a long time, Ron." Mrs. Possible said, wrapping an arm around her husband's waist. "Go tell her." she said with a smile and a tear in her eyes.

Ron's face became set with determination and he nodded. He looked to the naked mole rat on his shoulder. "Time to save the world and the girl of my dreams, little buddy?"

"Uh-huh!" Rufus grinned.

"Okay, let's... aw man..." Ron whined. "I don't have my rocket scooter! How am I supposed to get there?"

Mr. Possible looked his wife in the eye and smiled. She smiled back and gave him a nod. "I'll give you a ride, Ronald."

* * *

  
"Are you sure you should be doing this alone, Kim?" Wade asked through the Kimmunicator's vidscreen when she had reached a balcony on the edge of Buenos Nachos Headquarters. It had been a fast one hundred miles from Middleton to her destination on the rocket propelled scooter, and Kim was eager to get the job done and get back to the prom with Erik.

"I can't keep baby sitting Ron, Wade." she grumbled, still feeling guilty about leaving her best friend of twelve years behind. But she needed more that 'just a friend' could provide now, and Drakken had taken that away. "Besides, from what you've told me about this suit, it should be all the back up I need."

Wade let out a sigh. "Okay. You're in charge." he said. "Better check your pack."

Kim knealt down and placed her backpack on the floor to open it. "History homework, knockout gas lip gloss..." she said, sorting through the items. She paused, pulling out a plastic pistol. "A uhm, toy?" she asked, wondering if perhaps one of her little brothers had stashed it there for some reason.

"That's no toy." Wade said proudly, then corrected himself. "Well, not since I modified it. It's now an Electro-Magnetic Scrambler. It's point and shoot, just like your grapple gun."

"EMP. Gotchya." Kim nodded, putting the weapon back into her pack. She entered a large hall with several items of Buenos Nachos memorabilia hung on the walls and sitting on tables, and Kim couldn't help but know that Ron would have loved to be here. "Which is why he isn't." she whispered to herself. "No distractions, no delays." she added, creeping like a cat. She moved through the hall, leaping into the shadows as a sumo wrestler sized, ninja clad henchman walked by, surveying the hall.

She crept closer to where the presidential boardroom, and probably where Drakken would be hiding, staying in the shadows as best as the stark white and bright blue suit would allow her. Suddenly, the shadow she had hidden in glowed bright green, and she looked up to see a burst of green energy strike the floor where she'd been standing.

"Y'know what I really hate?" Shego asked, standing casually on a narrow ledge half way up the three storey wall. She was wearing her usual form fitting green and black jumpsuit, and her gloved hands were shrouded in deadly energy.

Kim activated the battle suit's myonetic enhancements, performing a hand spring that brought her up to Shego's level in the hall. "When someone kidnaps your boyfriend?" she asked angrily, waiting for Shego's next attack.

"When someone doesn't know when to give up!" Shego shouted, launching a barrage of energy at Kim through her hands. Kim began a routine of flips and handsprings, quickly moving from ledge to ledge before landing on a catwalk high above the ledge that Shego remained perched on. The blasts of energy continued and Kim crouched, holding out an open hand and activating the battle suit's forceshield with a thought.

Wade had been right. Three blasts of Shego's glowing streams of energy struck the shield fully and stopped on the blue, translucent bubble while a fourth deflect. As Shego clasped her hands together, charging a much larger ball of energy, and Kim dropped the shield, holding out a hand toward her. A cup shaped gauntlet materialized around her hand, catching the ball of energy in her now heavily armored hand. The green glow held stationary and Kim drew back her arm, throwing the surge of energy back at Shego.

Shego ducked to the side as the thick window exploded outward with the impact. "Ooo!" Shego said with a grin. "Kimmie got an upgrade."

"Not bad, huh?" Kim retorted, the gauntlet on her hand reverting back to normal.

"Yeah." Shego commented, as though bored. "Still not in my league though." she continued, leaping up to the catwalk and slashing her glowing fingers across Kim's arm, knocking her off of the catwalk. Kim gasped, twisting her body and launching a wrist mounted grapple up at the catwalk and swinging around the platform to land on top of it again, holding her arm and gritting her teeth. "Like I said... wha?"

Kim looked down at the deep, cauterized claw marks on her upper arm and the battlesuit regenerated over the bare skin, covering it completely and sealing the wound. "You were saying?" Kim asked, standing. She could feel the suit cooling the area off and a tingling sensation covered the area, deadening the pain.

Kim widened her stance and raised her arms, ready to attack or defend as necessary. Shego splayed her hands open, holding them out to either side in an obviously offensive posture and she growled, running forward. Kim tightened her hands into fists and charged forward as well, leaping and meeting Shego in the air. There were flashes of green and blue energy as Shego lashed out and Kim blocked with her forearms, thin armored gauntlets forming as needed and deflecting the energy.

Kim lashed out with several high powered kicks that Shego managed to block before they both landed back on the catwalk several feet apart. Wasting no time, Shego spun, throwing a volley of energy at Kim's feet to keep the teen hero off balance and at a distance.

* * *

  
Ron sat in the Possible family car nearly vibrating, waiting impatiently for a stoplight to turn green while Nickleback's 'Photograph' played on the radio, causing his frown to deepen as words of events gone by soaked into his mind.

The light turned green and Dr. Possible turned the corner onto the Highway that would lead them to Buenos Nachos Headquarters, slowly accelerating to the speed limit. "Can't we go any faster?!" Ron suddenly exclaimed.

"Ronald, we will be of no help to Kim if we are stopped by the police or get into an accident." James said sternly.

"I realize that sir, but super suit or not, Kim could be in real danger!" Ron argued out of frustration. He should be there, if not fighting then at least cheering her on or something. While James kept his eyes on the road, Ron faced him with his hands raised and his fingers curled in an attempt to emphasize his point. His look of frustration suddenly sank though as a blue haze began to surround his hands and he clenched them shut, stuffing them into his pockets.

James said nothing, obviously feeling the argument with Ron was done. Ron looked sideways at the digital clock on the car's dash and sighed. Eleven o'clock. At this rate it would take another hour to reach Buenos Nachos Headquarters and Ron couldn't help but worry for his friend.

* * *

  
Shego was throwing bursts of glowing green energy without stopping, and Kim continued her routine of flips and handsprings, doing her best to find cover and catch her breath. She tumbled toward an upward escalator, leaping from rail to rail, then hand springing up the moving steps as the machinery below her exploded, sending metal shrapnel tearing through her battlesuit.

The pulses of energy continued, and Kim was thrown back from an explosion where she landed, causing her to hit the catwalk and slide to a stop. She shook her head to clear it, then rolled to the side as Shego descended. The woman's knee struck the floor where Kim's head had been a moment before, carving out a chip from the brick surface.

Kim spun to strike with a series of kicks and punches, and Shego blocked each one, taunting Kim with a mocking grin. "Hey, Erik's cute." she said, looking Kim in the eye once they were locked in a hold. "Once you're out of the way, maybe I'll date him." she laughed.

But Kim's mind suddenly became a hazy fog. Shego had taunted her many times throughout the three years they've battled, but never this personally. Kim was already angry, and the faintest hint of jealousy was all it took to push her over the edge. The sudden flare of intense emotion caused the blue stripes on the battlesuit to suddenly glow brightly, signally the myonetic components were fully charged and activated.

The hold was broken by an enhanced kick to the side of Shego's head, and Kim became a white blur, her fists lashing out in a blur that Shego barely managed to avoid until finally one strike connected.

A loud, wet crunch reverberated in Kim's ears and she opened her eyes, breathing heavily. Shego was lying on her back at Kim's feet and the teen nearly fell to her knees, trying to sort through the events of the last few seconds. Was that it? All she had left to do was find Erik and...

"Wow." Erik said as he descended the untouched, downward moving escalator. "Didn't know you cared that much."

"Erik!" Kim shouted, regaining her senses. "You're okay!" She ran from Shego's unconscious form and through her arms around his neck, nuzzling her face into his chest.

Erik held her close, stroking her hair. "Kim..." he said softly.

"Erik..." Kim whispered back, her body relaxing in his embrace. She had done it. She had defeated Shego and brought Erik back from Drakken's clutches. There was only one thing left to do, and that was to put Drakken away for good.

"Actually here..." Erik said, stroking Kim's hair again and smiling at the feeling of Kim relaxing as he held her. "I'm known as Synthodrone number Nine Oh One."

Kim's eyes went wide with the dark realization of who, or rather what she was holding in her arms lovingly and a surge of electricity shot through her body. Her pupils were reduced to tiny black specs and she convulsed in Erik's hands before going limp. The last image she saw was the face she loved looking down at her with arrogant malice.

* * *

  
Kim regained consciousness in what appeared to be a Buenos Nacho storage warehouse. And she was alone. Thick steel cables bound her to a fiberglass cactus and her backpack with her hand held Kimmunicator, grapple gun and Electro magnetic scrambler sat on the floor only ten feet away. One thing she instantly noticed about the new battlesuit was its severe lack of storage space for just such a situation as this.

It had no pockets or compartments, other than a single hip pocket. No space for secret lasers or circular saws or other convenient gadgets. And as powerful as the suit was, it had no bumbling, loyal sidekick and his naked mole rat.

Kim mentally and emotionally kicked herself for leaving Ron behind. For believing in Erik more than her best friend, and for crushing on a synthodrone.

In one final hope, Kim attempted to activate the battlesuit's force field. "Power level critical." came a digitized female voice. "Force field activation aborted."

"That figures." Kim said to herself. Between the battle with Shego and whatever Erik had zapped her with, her suit was drained. With a lump in her throat and tears threatening to spill out, Kim relaxed her shoulders. "I got nothin'"

"Hey, that's my line, and what's worse, that's quitter talk!" Ron said, stepping out in front of her.

"Ron?" Kim asked, her frown turning into a straight thin line. "What are you doing here?"

Ron winked and smiled. "I have a problem with taking directions. Where's Erik?" he asked, looking around.

"He's a synthodrone..." Kim closed her eyes, recalling the boy's words before she had blacked out. "Why couldn't I see that he was a fake?"

"Wow, you don't get much more fake than a synthodrone." Ron said. His eyes widened as he thought about the implications. "Ew! You kissed a synthodrone!"

"I never kissed him!" Kim retorted in annoyance before looking away. "But I wanted to..." she whispered.

"Too much info." Ron said, tugging on the cables and avoiding Kim's eyes. "Y'know, there are guys that are better for you than Erik. Guys that are real for one."

Kim sighed again. "You really think there's a guy out there for me?" she asked hopefully.

Ron smiled shyly and swallowed hard. "Out there... " he began.

But before he could continue, the building began to shake and rumble and an enormous red and black Diablo bot pushed its way through the wall of the warehouse, dropping debris in its path. "Target: Kim Possible." it said in a deep, yet elegant voice. "Objective: Obliteration."

"Do they have to use such a fancy term?" Ron asked. "Whatever happened to plain old destruction?"

"Ron!" Kim shouted, worry and fear creeping into her voice. "Get these cables off of me!"

"Rufus, go for the lipstick!" Ron ordered and the mole rat jumped from his pocket, racing for Kim's backpack.

Ron narrowed his eyes at the offending machine. It symbolized everything that had gone wrong in the last few months. A part of Drakken's plan to distract Kim with Erik. A plot to overthrow Buenos Nacho with kiddie toys. And now it was here to destroy his best friend... no, his greatest friend. "Hey, Diablo!" he shouted.

"Ron, what are you doing?" Kim asked, not believing what she was seeing. Ron had settled into what seemed to be a martial arts form that she didn't recognize. As the Diablos arm cannon charged, Ron raced forward and leaped impossibly high. A shockwave erupted from the robot's chest where Ron struck with both feet. He back flipped away as the Diablo stumbled back.

"New target acquisition: Unknown." the machine said. Ron gritted his teeth even more. Even Drakken's robots didn't know his name?! "Objective: Annihilate."

"Rufus!" Kim shouted. Rufus had grabbed hold of the laser lipstick, but had been watching as Ron charged the machine. He shook his head, racing toward Kim amidst falling debris and plasma blasts. He rapidly climbed the cables, slicing them as he did with the short range laser that he held in his mouth.

Kim snatched the rodent in both hands and rolled forward, narrowly escaping being crushed by the Diablo bot. She came up on her feet and placed Rufus into her hip pocket without looking. Taking aim with her battle suit's wrist grapple at the monster's legs, she fired, the small magnetic pad attaching itself to its thigh.

Ron was dodging plasma blasts and a saw attachment while continuing to get hits on the Diablo that sent crawling cracks spreading out in all directions from the points of impact. After only a moment though, each injury on the robot glowed white, then regenerated as though no damage was done.

Kim swung around the Diablo's legs once, twice, then was flung to the side as the circular saw on the robot's arm severed her tether, while still firing its plasma cannon at Ron. "Rufus, we'll have to use the EMS. It's our only chance!" Kim said, standing and spotting her back pack.

* * *

  
The master Sensei of the Yamanouchi Ninja clan in Japan stood atop one of the highest peaks in the school, above a cloud layer that surrounded the mountain that the tranquil village was built on. His hands were tucked into either sleeve of his red and gold robe, and his long white beard flowed in the wind.

Yori, his lead student, stepped up beside him and bowed, her hands pressed together as a sign of respect. "Master Sensei..." she said, looking up at the cloudy sky above them. "What is happening?"

Large black shadows showed through the canopy of mists surrounding Mount Yamanouchi, silhouetted by lightning strikes. The figures resembled giant Oni; Japanese demons, and there were literally thousands of them blocking out the sun. "These times have been foreseen, but I fear that our friends in America are not yet ready for the battle that is to come." he said.

Without warning, Sensei faltered and stumbled, reaching for Yori's arm out of reflex. The young Japanese woman caught him despite her surprise, and looked into her master's face in horror. His eyes were glowing a bright blue and his mouth was open, as though he was speaking but no sound came. "Sensei! What is wrong?!"

"Stoppable-San..." he rasped, clutching at Yori's ninja uniform in an attempt to remain standing. "You are not yet ready..." he whispered as the blue light seemed to be forcibly torn from him.

* * *

  
Lord Montgomery Fiske watched with a scowl at the blanket of demonic looking machines that covered the sky over Britain. He was standing in his robe atop his manor in the British country side. He held his chin with his modified hand that had been changed genetically to resemble that of a monkey's paw, while he held a small cup with a prehensile foot and poured tea into it from a pot held with his other hand.

"Well played, Drakken. It would appear that you've finally discovered your potential." he said with disappointment. "Bravo."

He set the tea pot down on a table next to him, and took the now full tea cup from his foot, sipping it gingerly. "Of course, he'll soon learn that mere machines are no match for Mystical Monkey Power." he said to himself with a faint chuckle. Raising an eyebrow, he looked down at the contents of his tea cup. "That's odd..."

The faint tinkle of shattering glass caught his attention as he dropped his cup at his hand-like feet, then quickly followed suit as he collapsed in a heap.

His entire body was burning, yet feeling ice cold. "Monkey Ninjas!" he called, and was suddenly surrounded by an entire clan of simians in ninja uniforms. But all they could do was watch as the once notable archaeologist that now called himself Monkey Fist writhed in agony. His eyes glowed bright blue and wisps of blue smoke came from his mouth as he shouted.

* * *

  
Ron had paused for a moment and a wind had begun to pick up and whip debris around the room. Kim pushed her blowing hair out of her eyes and watched as the walls of the warehouse, its contents, and even the Diablo itself turned a swirling miasma of deep red, as though a glowing tornado had just touched down in the center of the building. Ron took a deep breath and closed his eyes, extending his arms.

Kim slowed her run to watch as Ron began to float. "Ron?" she whispered. A blue, electrified halo in the shape of a monkey's shadow formed around him as he let out a battle cry, and most of the contents in the warehouse began to float up with him.

Rufus stopped short of the back pack as the Diablo began to step forward, crushing Kim's backpack under foot. Two massive hands grew from the ends of the robot's arms and slammed together with Ron in between them, knocking Kim and Rufus off of their feet.

"Ron!" Kim shouted, scrambling instantly to her feet once again. The Diablo stood motionless for a moment. "Ron..." Kim whispered to herself, feeling her heart drop.

The Diablo slowly began to shake and multiple cracks developed in its armor plating, a glowing blue light piercing the machine's shell in a cacophony of screaming monkeys. Kim shielded herself from the explosion as the Diablo tore into a million pieces.

As Kim opened her eyes, Ron slowly descended toward her, his aura and the sound of screaming monkeys fading. With a focused, calm demeanor, Ron reached out his hand to Kim, helping her to her feet. "Ron, how did you...?"

"Get here? Your dad brought me." Ron said, catching Rufus as the rodent leaped into his hands.

"Uhm, okay... So not what I was going to ask, but... wait, my dad? Where is he?" Kim asked, suddenly frantic.

"He said he was going to stop Drakken and then sent me to come rescue you." Ron explained.

Kim shook her head in frustration. "Ron, both Shego and Erik are with Drakken. Dad doesn't stand a chance!"

* * *

  
"And the slumber parties?" Shego asked incredulously.

Dr. Drakken held up a finger. "Ah! But I learned Kim Possible's weakness!" he shouted, dancing around the room. "Boys, boys, boys! Who should I go to the dance with? Who's the perfect boy?" he said in a feminine voice before stopping at the feet of... James Possible. "What are you doing here?"

"You've gone too far this time, Drew." Mr. Possible said, standing tall in his slacks, button up shirt, and tie. "You can kidnap me, steal my research, and erase my memory. But you broke my Kimmie-cub's heart."

Drakken laughed. "You can't be serious!"

Mr. Possible pointed at Erik and glared. "And you, young man, should be ashamed of yourself!"

"Er, Possible... he's not real. Your daughter fell for a synthodrone." Drakken grinned. "And so did you." he continued as Erik, Shego, and the dozens of henchmen surrounded Mr. Possible.

Mr. Dr. Possible continued to stand tall with his hands on his hips, staring into Dr. Drakken's blue, scarred face. His peripheral vision caught sight of both Erik and Shego with confident grins as they readied themselves for an easy battle. Moving suddenly, Dr. Possible reached into his pocket and pulled out a long, narrow device that he crouched with and struck to the floor.

Drakken flinched, falling back as a tiny orb flew from the device and exploded in a horizontal shockwave at head level. Shego, Erik, and the crowd of henchmen were caught in the blast and collapsed to the floor where they had stood.

Dr. Possible stood with a smile, surveying the mess of unconscious bodies. From his other pocket, he pulled out a Kimmunicator and activated it. "The Neural Destabilizer worked like a charm, Wade. Well done!" he exclaimed.

"Thanks, Dr. Possible. Glad I could help." Wade replied from the device. "Now all you've got to do is set the self destruct and you're done!"

Dr. Possible looked at the numerous controls and video screens in the room before him. "Uh, where would a fast food franchise head quarters keep their self destruct mechanism?"

Wade shrugged. "It's a villains lair. It should be there somewhere."

Dr. Possible took another look around the room. "I'm just not seeing one."

"That's because it's internal!" Dr. Drakken said as he climbed to his feet. Dr. Possible turned as Drakken pushed him over the main console. "There is, however, a rocket propelled satellite that houses my primary control system!" Drakken laughed, slamming his fist down on a large, red LAUNCH button.

"Okay, this is bad." Wade exclaimed from the Kimmunicator.

Dr. Possible looked over from his place on the floor and grasped a familiar looking cable that was plugged into the console. He pulled on it and the console and video screens all went dead.

"Wha?!" Drakken asked, confused.

Dr. Possible plugged the Kimmunicator into the console. "Wade, see what you can do!" he said, and climbed to his feet. "Drew! One way or another, your scheme ends. Here and now!"

"You madman!" Drakken shouted, suddenly worried. "The rocket is already launching! With no power, the locking clamps won't release! You'll kill us all!" he finished as Dr. Possible tackled him.

"Dr. Possible!" Wade shouted from the Kimmunicator. "What's going on?"

Dr. Possible tightened his grip on the headlock that he had on Drakken. The two combatants stumbled amongst the unconscious crowd that remained on the floor and Drakken wrapped his arms around his old friend's waist, pushing him forward and onto the floor. "Oof! All under control here, Wade!"

"I'm setting the self destruct! Kim's on her w–" Wade shouted, then fizzled out by the Kimmunicator being crushed by a black boot.

Dr. Possible opened one eye while Drakken poked a finger into the other to see Erik standing where the Kimmunicator had been with an evil grin on his face. As the synthodrone reached down, the power all came back online. "Three..." a computerized voice counted down. The locking clamps could be heard retracting from the bottom of the rocket.

"So sorry..." Erik grinned and Dr. Possible narrowed his eyes at him.

"I am very disappointed in you, young man." James Possible said, throwing Drakken to the side.

"One..." came the computerized voice.

Drakken stood and cheered as the plume of exhaust surrounded the building and the rocket rose into the sky. Then his face fell as the computer voice returned. "Self Destruct in Five..."

"Wha?" Drakken asked, lowering his arms. "This just isn't fair!"

Erik shoved Dr. Possible to the side and grabbed Drakken's arm, leading him to the door. But it didn't open. "Self Destruct mechanisms. They have a tendency to lock down all exits." Dr. Possible smiled, folding his arms over his chest.

* * *

  
Kim and Ron came to a stop on the rocket propelled scooter to see the command tower blast into the sky. There were Diablo bots blocking out the moon as they flew overhead and rain spattered on the two teen's faces. "We're too late!" Ron shouted, watching the trail of smoke.

Kim glared at the ascending rocket. "We're not too late. We've just got to get to dad. He's a rocket scientist, maybe he can..." but she was cut off as they were both blown off of their feet with the explosion of the top of Buenos Nacho headquarters. A chain reaction tore through it and several Diablos dropped from the sky and landed, as though standing guard.

Kim crawled to her feet and reached for Ron's cell phone, dialing a phone number out of reflex. "Wade, where's my dad?!" she shouted, pain, fear and worry breaking to the surface of her normally calm exterior.

"Inside..." came Wade's tear filled voice. Kim shook her head and dropped her arms, burying her face in Ron's chest. "He was inside..."

It was hours later and the Diablo bots were still putting out fires with cybertronically created extinguishers mounted in their arms. A figure stepped out of the flames and wreckage, carrying another form. Laying the broken and burned body of Dr. Drakken on the ground, the figure looked down at the blue face, and with the sound of a battered electronic vocalizer, Erik said, "We will rebuild you, Father. Your empire will be realized."

* * *

_Earth, 2010._

Five years after the Diablo Wars, when man fought machine, and machines won.

Synthetics. Monstrous creations that hunt down human survivors, and digitize them.

BN Headquarters. Center of the Synthetic Empire. Stronghold and Fortress of Lord Drakken, feared ruler of this new order.

But from the fires of the Diablo Wars, arose a new breed of warrior. Born and trained to bring down Lord Drakken and his Synthetic Empire. They were mankind's last hope.

Their leader, Captain Kimberly-Anne Possible. Master of the Centurion Battle Suits which transform each soldier into a one person attack force.

Major Ron Stoppable, Mystical Monkey Kung Fu Master

Lieutenant Rufus, Naked Mole Rat and Ground Assault Unit.

Sergeant Wade Load, Espionage and Communications.

And Corporal Joss Possible, Tactical Systems expert.

Together they form the most powerful fighting force in Earth's history. Their creed: To protect all life. Their Promise: To end Lord Drakken's rule. Their name: Captain Possible and the Centurion Legacy!

* * *

**Disclaimer: Kim Possible was created by Bob Schooley and Mark McCorkle. The show, and it's franchise is owned by Disney. Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future was created by Gary Goddard.**


	2. Shattered

**Shattered**

Kim Possible stood atop the rubble outside of what used to be Go City's Mucho Grande Buenos Nacho. She wore her new battle suit, of course, as she always did now for missions. 'Off the rack' just hadn't cut it for the last five years of being on the run from Drakken's forces. Shortly after the Diablo control satellite was launched, Kim, Ron, and Rufus had collected Wade that night and raided what they could from her dad's lab in the Science Center. Taking what they could find of the Hephaestus Project, they had gone underground to Global Justice. Who knew you could undelete highly classified government technology?

The years since that horrible night flashed through Kim's mind as she struggled to keep her thoughts on the mission at hand. The relentless assault that the Diablo's wrought on the world until it's governments crumbled. It seemed Global Justice could have been the only thing with a plan to stop it, until Erik showed up again. Just as Dr. Director launched the world's arsenal of nuclear weapons against Drakken's satellite, he had become an unstoppable machine, and decimated GJ in one attack. All in the name of Lord Drakken. It had been four years since Kim had seen Dr. Director that day, and things have only gone down hill from there.

If Kim and her friends hadn't escaped the GJ base with the Centurion project, the resistance would have stopped there. Throughout the years, Wade had managed to reverse engineer the marvel of cybertronic technology and developed the new, current battle suits. Kim's had GJ's colors. Wade thought it fitting now that she was the closest thing to the organization's Director. With dark blue plating and silver highlights over her shoulders, reminiscent of a Roman Centurion and a flexible breast plate that covered her exposed navel, she had to admit that it wasn't as free moving as her black crop top and green cargoes used to be. A transparent targeting reticle with a Heads Up Display sat snugly over her right eye and she kept her waist length red hair in a braid down her back. More dark blue plating covered her legs, and ended in myo-netic enhanced boots that allowed her to leap many more times what her natural body could. She hoped that it would all be enough to take down Drakken, once and for all.

Now, as Kim looked down on the Mucho Grande Buenos Nacho, she smiled to herself. Through the targeting reticle, she could clearly see the twelve purple and black synthodrones that patrolled the now ragged looking former restaurant, guarding Drakken's most fearsome weapon. A Diablo Signal Repeater.

The Diablos had become worn since the crash of the satellite that used to control them. The rocket that had launched that fateful night sealed the deal on Drakken's world domination plot and by the time GJ had come up with a plan to destroy it, most of the planet's surface and its human civilization had been destroyed. Now, Drakken seemed to be allowing the Diablos to die out in exchange for run of the mill synthodrones and machines like Erik, believing that there was little to challenge him any longer. Apparently, the original Hephaestus Project was never meant to operate for such a long time and with each repeater station that Kim destroyed, Diablos rained down in small particles, no longer having the ability to hold together, even in their toy form. The Mucho Grande Buenos Nacho had one of the largest signals in the region, thanks to it's massive Taco sign.

"We're in position, Wade. Let's make history." Kim said as she drew her pistol and zoomed out her reticle. She quietly climbed down the mound of rubble, her long braid twisting around her.

Twelve synthodrones fell into formation as they met at the heavily armored doorway of the reinforced bunker that used to be one of the world's largest Mexican restaurants. A flash of steel pierced the back of the last drone and the draining husk was thrown into the dark corner that it's attacker had been hidden in. As a thick yellow fluid spilled out onto the pavement, Wade activated his battle suit's holographic emitter from the control panel on his wrist, placing an image of a synthodrone over top. He quickly stepped into line with the eleven other drones, following them into the large bunker, passing by the relief squad on its way out.

The squad entered the building and stopped, allowing the synthodrone that led them in to turn mechanically, and activate the locking mechanism on the door. A deep voice rang out in the drab halls, stating, "Lock down in place. Recharging will commence until zero three hundred hours." The lead synthodrone returned to its place at the front of the squad, leading the rest of the synthodrones deeper into the complex.

Wade slowed his pace, allowing the other drones to continue ahead without him. Fortunately, the synthodrones hadn't improved much since Drakken's original design, and didn't notice one of their number fall behind. Turning off his holographic disguise to conserve power, Wade toggled his suit's comm. "I'm in, Kim. But I might need some help getting out."

"What's the sitch, Wade?"

"The door isn't set to open until Oh Three Hundred. I'm locked in." Wade replied. "I could hack it..."

"No." Kim said. "Do the mission. We'll get you out of there."

"I hope that's a promise, Kim."

Kim looked to her right side at Ron Stoppable, who continued to refuse to wear a battle suit of his own, insisting that it would just get in the way of using his Monkey Powers, and instead wore a black Global Justice uniform that Dr. Director had given him. She then turned to Rufus on her left. The naked mole rat that had been Ron's constant companion for many years sat in the cockpit of the head of a hulking, lightly tanned and savannah camouflaged, robot body that was bristling with weaponry. "We've got thirty seconds. Let's move." Kim ordered.

Kim was the first one in, leaping from a stand still into the middle of the group of synthodrones. The hardened husk of the synthodrones required something other than bare fisted martial arts, and Kim had to learn to use more lethal means, though her grapple was still mounted on the under barrel of her energy pistol. She fired three shots into the chest of three separate drones, then fired her grapple through the abdomen of a fourth, the hook passing through and snagging a fifth. She recoiled the grapple, pulling the second drone into the first.

Ron was next, his blue glow throwing an eerie light over the environment. With blazing quickness and a grin on his face, an orb of brilliant white energy formed between his hands, tearing up the pavement and cutting a swath through four of the remaining synthodrones. He landed heavily, creating a crater that pushed back two more. "Gotchya covered, KP!" he shouted.

The remaining synthodrone rounded the corner of the Buenos Nacho and leveled it's energy rifle at the group. "Ron!" Kim shouted back as Ron took the hit square in the back, knocking him to the street. Before Kim could raise her pistol, a streak of energy tore through the synthodrone, spraying yellow ooze over the front of the building.

Rufus trudged over to Ron in the slow moving robot body and reached down with an arm to pick Ron up by his uniform, setting him on his feet. "You're getting old, Ron." came the deep, mechanized voice.

Ron dusted himself off, looking up into the tinted slit that he knew Rufus would be watching through. "I'm not old, I just haven't had a Naco in five years. I'm distracted."

Kim smiled, touching her ear piece. "Wade, how're you doing in there?"

Wade had already planted the charges on the building's reactor. Something Drakken had put in place shortly after buying the franchise years ago. Fortunately, the lay out of the building had remained much the same as it had as a restaurant, except that the windows and doors had all been replaced with high density armored plating and regeneration sockets had been put in place to change out the syntho goo that Drakken used to power his drones. Unfortunately, the synthodrones that had awakened and were now chasing him with blazing energy rifles knew the layout as well as Ron probably did.

Clanging through the halls in his dark grey, armored battle suit, Wade slid over the salsa parade, taking a hit from an energy rifle to his shoulder as he did. The conveyor had stopped long ago, but old bowls of what probably used to be nachos and cheese exploded as energy ripped by. Using the conveyor as cover, Wade fired back, the Heads Up Display on his sealed helmet pointing out weak spots in the synthodrone's armor and electronically guiding his hand to allow his shots to land with every shot. In the corner of his vision, the detonator's timer was quickly dwindling. "You guys about done out there?!"

Kim placed the charge on the blast door of the building and set the timer. "Clear the door, and count to five!" she said through the comm. Ron and Rufus were already behind nearby rubble, watching as Kim bolted away from the building in an effort to clear the blast.

"Onetwothreefourfive!" Wade shouted, firing behind him at a continuing onslaught of synthodrones.

Kim watched as the door to the Buenos Nacho blew out in a shower of shrapnel and light. "Where's Wade?" she asked with concern.

The building exploded out every side as the reactor detonated and Wade was flung forward and over the rubble that Kim, Ron, and Rufus were hidden behind. "Gangway!" he was shouting as he struck the pavement and rolled away. The taco sign struggled to stay standing for a moment before tilting away from the building and shattering into an irreparable mess.

"Boo Yah!" Ron shouted, pumping an arm into the air as the fireball continued to ripple through the complex. "Now that's something that never gets old!"

Kim smiled at the reverie of her companions, but wasn't about to cheer just yet. This was one repeater station, and many more needed to be brought down before they stood a chance at defeating Drakken. "Joss." Kim said into her comm. "Ready for pickup."

Joss Possible sat in her own lightly armored battle suit with shiny black plating and gold trim, at the helm of the Kepler, a ship that her Uncle James Possible had designed before his untimely death at the hands of Drakken five years ago. While it had been heavily modified for atmospheric flight and maneuverability, Kim had wanted to keep the name. "On my way, Kim!" she said with a smile, her country twang coming through clearly. The Kepler flew in low over the rubble that had used to be GO Tower and formed a wake in the harbor as she neared the city.

* * *

Lord Drakken spun slowly in his throne at the peak of the old Buenos Nacho Head Quarters. The place of his ultimate victory five years ago. Or so he had believed. He had made significant changes to the Mexican Food franchise. The building itself had anti air cannons in apparently random locations; Death Rays that could obliterate any ground assault were located every mile in ten rows around him. Inside had become much more practical. It was dark, with dark blue lighting that had no effect on his cybernetic right eye or his vast army of synthetic soldiers. Conduit and piping ran up and along every wall, supplying redundant power to every vital system. Behind him was an impenetrable view port that allowed him to look out over the industrial waste land that now surrounded his lair.

The holographic image that hovered before him showed the destruction of the Mucho Grande Buenos Nacho in Go City. Bright red lines were pointing out fragments of Diablos that had been on their way to stop the attack, and were now drifting to the ground. The attackers were already gone by time his aging weapons of destruction had gotten close. "Delay in Project: New World Order is three point five months." came an electronic voice from throughout his throne room.

"Kim Possible..." Drakken hissed through clenched metal teeth. His nemesis. Drakken had thought she would have given up when her father had died in the same explosion that took half of Drakken's body. He closed his right fist in frustration, bending the titanium arm rest in his grip. The holographic image vanished and Drakken growled.

"Again, she defies me. Keeps me from my destiny. Refuses my genius!" Drakken said to himself. "Hephaestus!"

"Yes, Lord Drakken?" came the ominous, haunting mechanical voice of the artificial intelligence that had come to bond with Drakken. Hephaestus was the name of the Greek god of technology and craftsmen, and it was a fitting name as it birthed the age of synthetics. The Diablos that were Drakken's tool in conquering the planet. When he had first come across James Possible's cybertronic research, the ability to convert pure energy into matter and back again had been undeniably amazing. But there had been something sinister in the code. Something that had wanted to be freed, but made benign and useless by the good Doctor Possible. It had liked what it saw in Drakken, and kept him alive when his body was broken. Now, it was a part of him. It had rebuilt him as a synthetic until only his left arm and half of his face were all that displayed his blue flesh. The rest of his body was now composed of a material unlike the past scientific community had ever heard of. A partially synthetic set of lungs gave him a raspy breath that he no long even needed to take. His heart produced enough power to run two major old American cities, and most of his other vital organs were now obsolete. He was... as his first attempt at robotics, the Be Bes, had put it... perfect.

"Scan the databanks for all residents of Middleton from six years ago." he ordered with a grin. Drakken's digitization invention hadn't been fully realized until his synthodrones had been perfected. Then the epiphany that would become Erik struck him.

At first, the boy was no more than a composite of hunk-ish models out of teen magazines fed into a computer, and programmed to be the perfect male heartthrob. But then he found Hephaestus, and the night Drakken's world exploded, everything changed.

"Fool you once, Kim Possible, shame on me. Fool you twice, shame on you..." Drakken said with a laugh as the image of a two tone blonde haired young man appeared in a hologram in his throne room.

* * *

Kim dropped into a chair and breathed a sigh in the hidden GJ base that they had taken as their own. Built into the depths of a mountain far from her home town, she had come to accept it as her new home, surrounded by the few friends that had fought in the Diablo war with her. Wade sat at one of the five computers that surrounded a digital holographic projector in the center of the command room. Rufus sat on Ron's shoulder, as usual, harassing the blonde man about how much he was whining about the last mission. With the exception of Rufus, who continued to remain naked, except for a tan colored collar, they all wore nearly identical black Global Justice fatigues that were stylized to keep their individuality.

While Kim had kept her bare midriff and three quarter length sleeves, Wade had added a grey leather vest full of tools and equipment that he found handy when his armor wasn't activated. Ron still held to the notion that the baggy, black shirt and pants continued to make him look cool. "Get some rest, guys." Kim said, stretching her body out in the chair. "We'll pick out a new target in the morning."

"Sounds good to me." Ron admitted with a yawn. Rufus chittered with a laugh at him and Ron glared back at him. "I'm not old! Y'know, you used to be a nice mole rat, but I think the lack of cheese is getting to you too." he said, carrying the pink, sausage-like creature out of the command room and toward the bunks.

"Any chatter, Wade?" Kim asked, closing her eyes for a moment and folding her hands over her exposed abdomen.

"Other than the usual bee's nest of Drakken's forces after a repeater goes down?" Wade asked, a mischievous note to his voice.

"Sure." Kim replied.

"Just one." Wade said in a whisper. "A personal message."

Kim's eyes shot open and she lifted herself from her chair. "Mom and the Tweebs?" she asked. She was standing behind Wade and staring at the screen before Wade even realized she had moved. The message read: 'Kim... I.C.U... Josh.'

"Well, that's kinda creepy." Wade said. "Josh?"

"Josh Mankey." Kim confirmed, her lips twitching with an uncertain smile. "Dad?" she asked, looking up. The holographic projector in the center of the room blazed to life at Kim's command.

"Hey there, Kimmie-cub." the image of her father said. The hologram was flawless, a perfect copy of what James Possible looked like when he was still alive, from the strip of grey in his hair, the black tie, ivory shirt, and grey slacks. Even down to the sometimes absent minded and overly protective personality that she missed. They had found the program in his lab the same time they found the Kepler. Apparently, James Possible sometimes needed an assistant that thought like he did, and there were precious few minds in the world that could. So he had uploaded a copy of his own consciousness into the Space Center's computer core.

"Can you trace this message?" Kim asked.

"Is it from a boy?" he asked sternly, placing his virtual hands on his virtual hips.

Kim rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "It's from Josh, Dad."

"Josh?" Joss asked as she entered the room. Kim's younger cousin had decided to go with a black leather jumpsuit that was reminiscent of the uniform that Drakken's human followers wore. Joss had been through dark times during the Diablo War that she preferred not to elaborate on. She had been an infiltrator into Drakken's new World Order, under command of Agent Will Du, himself. As tough as his synthodrone's were, Drakken still needed humans to follow his cause and tell him how great he is. Joss had witnessed a lot of the atrocities that Drakken had committed in the war and came out withdrawn and, for the most part, quiet. Still though, she seemed to have grown used to the tight leather outfits that Drakken had adopted for his human slaves to wear, similar to what Shego had worn before she was lost in the Buenos Nacho explosion. Joss stepped up beside Kim, looking down at the monitor in front of Wade. "What's I.C.U?"

"It's the name of the first song that Josh and I danced to back in High School." Kim said absently. "Last I heard, he had joined the resistance. I haven't seen him since..."

The hologram of her father cut her off. "The message originated in Sector thirty eight dash bee."

"Old San Francisco." Wade translated.

"Figures." Kim snorted. "That's where we broke up."

"Now Kim, you know I don't approve of you going to investigate this alone." James said, crossing his arms over his chest as Kim began striding toward the hanger.

"I know, Dad. Joss, you're with me." she said, looking back at her cousin. "Prep the Kepler. We'll leave in five."

"Spankin'!" Joss exclaimed excitedly. Despite whatever she had been through in Drakken's new World Order, she still held onto her Montana accent and high energy.

To Kim, it meant there was still hope for the human race. "Let's just hope we can find a place to park..."

* * *

"There it is, Kim. San Francisco." Joss said quietly as she brought the Kepler in low over the bay. The Golden Gate bridge lied torn in two as though a massive claw had grabbed it in the middle and pulled it apart like toffee. The Kepler flew slowly over the still waters, barely causing a wave. The city itself was a dreary grey with heavy smoke blocking out most of the sun. The buildings were crumbling still, and pieces of the world's war machines laid in shambles, plasma craters dotting the landscape. Kim frowned as they passed through downtown slowly, and without a sound. "So how'd you two break up way back when?"

"We grew apart." Kim said, answering as vaguely as possible. "See if you can put it down close to the Cartoon Art Museum, Joss. Six fifty five Mission Street."

"We gonna be usin' the battle suits?" Joss asked, looking down at her scanners as she set the Kepler down gently in amongst the ruined streets.

"I'm not picking up any synthetics on the sensors. Let's save our power, just in case some show up. We may need it later." Kim said, climbing out of the Captain's chair. It was located in the center of the Kepler's cockpit, with the pilot to her forward left, and the co pilot to her forward right. Damage control was located just behind her, and the weapon system station, which had been specially modified for Rufus, sat further back, next to the entry ramp. All of which were obviously based around the Captain Constellation ship from her father's favorite television show. Ron had recognized it immediately.

The entry ramp folded out and Kim climbed down the steps to the rubble strewn street. Joss was right behind her, eager to follow. "Why the museum?" she asked.

Kim hesitated a moment, surveying the area. "Stick with the Kepler, Joss. I won't be long." she ordered, taking out her Kimmunicator. "Keep a lookout for synthetics."

Joss was stone faced for a moment before pushing herself back up the stairs. "Sure thing, Cap'n." She watched Kim climb the steep, pock marked hill toward the museum and sat back in Kim's Captain's chair, spinning in a bored stupor.

A sudden clang snapped Joss to attention and she realized that one of her energy pistols was already in her hand. Moving stealthily, she crept down the steps of the Kepler with her weapon held securely in both hands. With a trained eye, she moved from shadow to shadow in a perimeter around the ship.

Another piece of rubble fell and a large rat scurried out of its hiding place. Joss's index finger squeezed on the trigger of her pistol enough to activate the targeting mechanism, scaring away the rodent. She sighed, letting her heart calm itself as she holstered her pistol. As she turned to make her way back to the Kepler, a form in the darkness stood before her, a weapon already leveled at her face.

Joss grabbed her pistol, but a thick smoke had already clouded around her head as she gasped, filling her lungs with a slight burning. Her pistol dropped from her hand before she cleared the holster and she staggered back and away from her assailant, trying to stumble toward the Kepler. Soon her vision faded, and as she placed her hand on the bottom step of the entry ramp, she collapsed.

* * *

Kim continued moving toward the Cartoon Art Museum, cautiously keeping to the shadows. For a moment, her Kimmunicator blipped an alert that it detected a synthetic life form, then returned to its regular scanning. She crouched, looking around and taking in her surroundings. There were empty synthodrone husks littered all over, almost outnumbering the military personnel and hardware that remained. Any active syntho goo could potentially have set off her scanner.

"Better safe than sorry, I suppose." she said to herself, standing. She touched the silver Global Justice pin that was attached to the collar of her uniform. Instantly, arcs of brilliant blue electricity crawled their way over her body, releasing the intense energy stored within the skin tight battle suit blue print that she wore beneath her GJ uniform. The dark blue armor plating appeared in a flash over her shoulders and legs as an expanding field of energy erupted, encompassing her in a translucent bubble. Her targeting reticle appeared and the myonetic components crawled over her skin, enhancing her physical capabilities. The energy bubble condensed and became an invisible field around her in a crash of thunder and a final flash of light. "If no one knew I was here before, they do now." she whispered as she activated the wireless connection between her reticle and Kimmunicator.

The environment took on a greenish hue to her right eye, amplifying what little light was available and the heads up display began highlighting any less than obvious threats. Kim placed the Kimmunicator onto its mount on her belt and continued on to the museum. Or what was left of it.

The sprawling building had a line cut through the center, probably from a Diablo that had at one time decided it wanted to get something on the other side. It had might as well have waded through water with how much the steel girders and reinforced walls would have slowed it down. Kim climbed through the opening that the Diablo had made years ago and surveyed the area. Much of the prized artwork that had been a part of the many exhibits had disintegrated into burned flakes. Kim was suddenly glad that Ron wasn't here. He probably would have cried.

A table that Kim's reticle highlighted caught her eye and she moved toward it, recognizing the object that sat on it instantly. It was Josh's sketchbook, and it was unscathed. Kim picked it up and opened it carefully with her gloved hands, looking through the pages. It was the same sketchbook she remembered from six years ago. The one with the compromising sketch of Bonnie Rockwaller halfway through.

"You always did have a habit of finding things you were never meant to see, Kim." came a familiar male voice from across the room. The man was dressed in a menagerie of armor pieces, completed by a worn out Desert Storm helmet that seemed out of place in the drab grey urban environment. He walked up to her confidently and pulled the helmet off, setting it on the table.

"I was also far too trusting of the men I dated, Josh." Kim replied. Josh Mankey still kept his hair short in the back with a swept back look on top. But his face was grizzled with stubble, his chest and arms were well muscled, and dark rings had formed under his eyes from years of fighting an unbeatable foe. "Especially the ones that cheat."

"I told you Kim, I never..." Josh began, his voice beginning to rise.

"Why'd you bring me here, Josh?" Kim asked, cutting him off.

"I... I had to Kim. I'm sorry." Josh said. Kim's reticle flashed warnings of Josh's suddenly increased heart rate and movement. Before Kim could conceive the idea, Josh grabbed his weapon and swivelled the holster, not even bothering to clear it before firing three blasts of energy into Kim's breast plate. The impact lifted Kim off of her feet and tossed her back into the last remaining glass display in the museum. "Trust me, Kim." Josh said to her unconscious form through the cloud of acrid smoke. "You wouldn't want the alternative."

* * *

Drakken tightened his grip on the arm rest of his throne and growled. "This is what I get for sending a reestablished human to do a synthetics job!" he shouted. He had been watching intently through the Mankey boy's eyes. He had made great use of the subcutaneous tracking chips that were installed when digitized humans were stored and reestablished. Drakken moved to adjust some controls, but found his right mechanical hand stuck, squeezed into the dense metal frame of his chair.

He pulled the arm rest off with a growl and flung it to the side, flexing his newly freed hand. "Erik!" he yowled into the air. While he had no need to use verbal commands to distribute orders to his minions anymore, it made him feel better.

"Yes, Father?" Erik asked. He stood amidst synthodrone troops and artillery that were creeping forward into resistance held territory. A synthodrone exploded into a yellow mist beside him as he halted his attack. "What do you wish?"

"There is someone that defies my will, Erik." Drakken said cooly. "Kim Possible is with him."

Erik grinned at the sound of Kim Possible's name. A retrofitted SUV with a high caliber projectile weapon mounted on the roof jumped out over a pile of rubble, spraying the area with bullets. Two explosive shells deflected off of Erik's shining blue and black armor before the onslaught rippled over his shoulder and pounded into the tank behind him, resulting in an explosion that washed over Erik without effect. "Shall I terminate?" he asked nonchalantly.

He narrowed his eyes at the offending vehicle that continued to charge toward him, firing wildly. Erik stretched out a hand toward the SUV and a ripple of blue energy ran along his arm before focusing in his palm and releasing in a pulse that split the vehicle in two.

"Discard the boy. I want Kim Possible alive." Drakken ordered. "I want her to suffer."

"Understood, Father." Erik acknowledged as the exploding SUV flew end over end over his head in two separate fireballs. Despite synthodrones exploding around him and being pelted by small weapons fire, Erik crouched, then shot up into the sky, leaving a plume of exhaust behind where he had stood.

* * *

Ron Stoppable's voice was the first thing that Joss heard when her eyes fluttered open and she looked around. She was still lying at the base of the entry ramp into the Kepler. Her head was pounding and she spat out a greenish film as she dragged herself to her feet.

"Joss? Kim? KP?" Ron was asking over the Kepler's comm system. "Come on! This isn't funny!"

Joss fell into the co pilot's chair and opened the channel. "Joss here, Ron."

"JP? What happened? We've been trying to reach you for ten minutes!" Ron said with concern.

"We get suckered." Joss explained, rubbing her burning eyes. "Kim took off and I was gassed. I'm not sure where she is."

"Hold tight, JP. The calvary's on the way!" Ron said, cutting the connection.

* * *

Josh Mankey was running as fast as he could, tears streaming from the corners of his eyes. He leapt over rubble, ducked beneath broken girders, even tripped over cinder blocks as he rolled in the dust, then onto his feet in one swift move. He continued running until his legs finally gave out and he slid on his knees, out of breath. He was pounding the ground with his fists when the sound of light footfalls came up behind him. "You've been working out, Josh." Kim said, not even the slightest bit winded. "But I'm still pretty tough to beat."

Josh leaned back on his haunches and laughed through his labored breathing. "Drakken said you always were..." he said. With blinding speed, he spun and fell onto his back, drawing his weapon and firing multiple bursts at Kim. With a bored grimace, Kim deflected each shot with her gauntlets before drawing her own pistol and firing her grapple at Josh's weapon, snatching it back to her grasp. But Josh already had his hands on a small black cylinder that he twisted and rolled toward Kim's feet.

Kim leaped high, but the blast was instantaneous. As Josh covered his head with his arms, protecting himself from flying shrapnel, Kim landed in front of him in a kneeling position, her armor disappearing in bright wisps of energy as it ran out of power, and her long braid wrapping closely around her mid section before returning to its usual place down her back. "What's the sitch, Josh?" Kim shouted, picking him up by his flak jacket with both hands.

Josh was choking up, as though the fight in him had finally left. "Drakken got me, Kim. I... I joined the resistance shortly after the Diablos started working on the smaller cities that didn't have BN restaurants. Places that didn't have the toys. Then the synthetics came in. They wiped us out. Some... the lucky ones... were killed."

"What did Drakken do to you, Josh?" Kim asked, sympathy for the man overriding her anger.

Josh sagged in her grip and Kim knelt down with him. "He put me in, Kim." Josh sobbed. "Into Hephaestus. Stored, catalogued. It's like you're a ghost in the machine, and you have no choice but to share every single thought. Every memory. It knows everything. It knew about us. Drakken was using me. I... I can't go back. I couldn't let him get you. Trust me, Kim. It's better to die!" Josh cried as a narrow blue beam streaked across his thigh, causing him to roll to the ground. Kim shielded him with her body and looked down the street to where the shot had come from.

Erik landed with a gentle thud, rocket engines folding into his back, hidden away and protected under his reflective armor plating. "Hey there, Kim. Long time no see." he grinned, the flexible silver plating that made up his facial features contorting into a mockery of a human expression. A heavy clanging echoed through the streets with each step he took.

Kim ignored him for the moment, turning to Josh instead. "It's not better to die, Josh. We've got to keep fighting. Always keep fighting!"

"I can't Kim. You don't know what it's like in there! You're so alone in the dark with wires and circuits prodding your soul..." Josh said, trying to crawl away from Erik as he approached.

"Aw..." Erik said with a smirk. "Such a pathetic display of emotion. So the drama, and all that." he continued. He held out his left arm at length, and a beam weapon folded out of his forearm and the barrel began spinning. "Orders, Father?"

"Digitize them both. Now!" Drakken cackled evilly in his throne room.

"You won't be alone, Josh." Kim whispered, clutching at Josh's jacket. "I'm going to find you somehow. I promise." she said, closing her eyes and pressing her lips over his, preparing for the inevitable.

"As you wi..." Erik began with a grin, settling his targeting system over both Kim and Josh. Suddenly, an energy blast rang out, throwing him off balance. He folded the digitization ray back into his forearm and looked down the street at a camouflaged, hulking suit of armor. He grimaced and fired a pulse from his other arm at his attacker, but his aim was thrown off by a pin point shot from his other side. "You people can't be serious!"

Wade twisted a grenade and flung it down at Erik's feet as Joss fired another shot from each of her energy pistols, blemishing Erik's shiny blue armor. Rufus launched a volley of fully automatic pulses into Erik's plated abdomen from his gyro stabilized energy cannon, causing him to twitch and dance with each impact. The explosion at his feet knocked him down and into the rubble, sending fragments of concrete in all directions. His vision fizzled slightly and returned to normal status to see Ron Stoppable with a blue aura surrounding him, looking down with a grin on his face. "Better watch where you step, buddy." he said with a wink.

"You're really starting to piss me off." Erik stated, and leaped to his feet, cracking the already unstable pavement when he landed. He spun, throwing a punch at Ron that would have pounded through steel. Ron blocked and Wade, Rufus, and Joss continued their assault, narrowly missing Ron in the melee as he dodged and weaved, striking Erik several times in his armored chest. The constant sound of concussive force striking dense metal was ringing throughout the city as the battery continued. Erik lashed out with bolts of energy that tore neat burning holes in the cover that Wade and Joss were hiding behind and Rufus took one shot square to the chest of his armored robot body, causing him to stagger back and struggle to regain his footing.

Ron seemed to dance around the slower form of Erik, contacting and cracking his armor in several places with a barrage of bare knuckled punches that sent the synthetic sliding into the wall of a demolished building. Erik pulled his head out from the hole that he had created and turned to face Ron again. "Give up yet?" Ron asked as Rufus, Wade, and Joss took aim again.

"You're pathetic, you know that?" Erik asked, glaring at Ron.

"Says the guy that just had his head pressed into a brick wall." Ron retorted. Erik shouted, and both of his arms lit up with blue arcs of energy, unleashing a fury of blasts that began burning holes in the landscape. Rufus held up an arm of his robot body to protect himself while he continued his own attack. Joss began striding to the side to keep behind cover, her dual pistols finding their mark on Erik's armor plating that was beginning to peel away. Ron let out a low growl and closed his eyes as he landed from a short leap in front of Erik. He pulled back one arm and the sound of a thousand monkeys screaming for the kill pierced through the sound of weapons fire. As Ron contacted, Erik flew back and crashed through the walls of several buildings behind where he had been withstanding the assault.

Kim stood up from her place behind cover, helping Josh to his feet. Ron's halo diminished slightly as he walked over to the pair with an uncharacteristically annoyed look on his face as he glared at Josh. He opened his mouth to speak, but Kim cut him off. "Good job guys." she said with a smile, knowing full well what Ron had been about to say.

"Kim, we'd better skee-dattle. There's going to be synthetics crawling all over this place any moment." Joss said, keeping her pistols at the ready. Rufus was backing up to the group with his hip mounted energy cannon trained on the hole that Erik had created in one of the nearby buildings.

* * *

Erik tossed pieces of broken concrete and steel off of himself. He had been tossed two city blocks and sustained heavy damage. Running a quick diagnostic, his systems revealed what he already knew. "Regeneration will be complete in fifteen minutes, Father. But Kim Possible has escaped." he said through his command link.

Drakken stood, his remaining blue skin seeming to glow in the darkness as he whirled about, causing his blue lined, silky cape to billow around him. He extended a wickedly serrated blade from his right forearm, slashing across several components, and severing his other arm rest. He growled, but had nothing he could say that would make his defeat this day any less stinging. "Rrr... somebody fix my chair!" he shouted.

* * *

"Looks like it's under his skin..." Wade said, resulting in an 'Ew...' from Kim. He was using a laser scalpel to cut the chip from the back of Josh's neck. "This might pinch a little..." he said, holding his tongue out to concentrate. The group was back at base now, secure and safe, with everyone out of armor and crowded around Josh. All but Ron were casting a sympathetic look on the man.

Josh twitched a little as the chip came out and gave a quiet "Ow..." as he rubbed his neck where the new scar would occur.

"Subcutaneous tracking chip. Standard issue for all unwilling agents." Joss said, examining the tiny device. "Whoops..." she said with a grin as she dropped it on the floor and crushed it under the heel of her boot. Kim had let her hair out of her usual long braid, and leaned on one of the computer terminals, staring down at Josh as he sat in one of the chairs. Wade and Joss took the hint, and slowly crept away to another section of the base. Ron and Rufus, however, remained, glaring at Josh with arms folded over their chests.

Kim cleared her throat and raised an eyebrow at Ron. He turned his attention to Kim for a moment with a surprised look, as though it was the first he had noticed her. "You should get the checked, KP. Can't have you getting..." he said before noticing Kim gesture for him to leave. "Oh... right. Well... Rufus and I are just going to go to the place with the thing, and..." he began, slowly slinking nervously away. "If he tries anything, just call, KP."

Kim smiled back at Ron and nodded. "I will." she said. Once her best friend was sure to be out of earshot, Kim turned her attention to the computer console that she was leaning against, touching a combination of buttons that began a quiet tune that made Josh chuckle.

"I.C.U. by Wes Quave." he said with a smile.

Kim stood up straight and offered her arm to him in a bow. "For old times sake?" she asked, and Josh stood, placing his hands carefully on her hips.

"Kim... about what happened back there." he said. "I didn't want..."

Kim shook her head, clasping her hands around the back of Josh's neck and looking up into his war torn facial features. He had a rugged look now that a part of Kim found attractive, but there was something missing. An innocence she longed for that she doubted she'd ever find, even if the war ended tomorrow. "It doesn't matter anymore, Josh. We'll take you to the Passages. You can rest there. You'll be safe."

Josh frowned. "I'm not sure if anywhere's safe."

Kim smiled. "Trust me. My mom and brothers keep it well hidden and well organized. We bring a lot of survivors there. Once this is all over, we'll need all the people we can find. Including artists..."

"Kim... the picture of Bonnie. Nothing ever happened. I was telling her one day how I needed practice drawing anatomy. She offered to pose... nothing happened, I swear." Josh said.

Kim frowned and shook her head. "Josh, it really doesn't matter. It's over. Just... just dance with me for a little while. Let me remember."

Josh nodded and Kim rested her head on his chest, closing her eyes with a wistful smile. Josh buried his face in Kim's hair and held her close as the rest of the song played out.

* * *

**A special thanks is deserved for Neo the Saiyan angel, for both encouragement and input in developing and correcting this story.**


	3. The Abyss

**The Abyss**

A sliver of the moon struggled to shine through the thick clouds that slowly crawled across the sky over the skeleton of what was once an age old city of human civilization in central Europe. A solitary figure tapped frantically on an old military radio, transmitting a message of distress to anyone that would hear it. But still, there was no response. The soldier climbed higher over the rubble in an attempt to find a signal that would allow him to send his message.

"Lucre!" came an accented voice as a blinding light shined on Francis Lurman; aka. Frugal Lucre. The last five years had been hard on Lucre. First, the Diablos had come and destroyed Smarty Mart, leaving him with nothing to go back to after prison. No purpose. He had tried to join up with that Drakken fellow, but the resources he wasted were ridiculous! That, and being turned into digital code didn't overly appeal to him.

Frugal shaded his eyes, hiding the radio behind his back, hoping that the signal would get out. "H-hey Junior. How's it going? Nice night, huh?" he asked, trying to focus on the hulking form that held the light that was shining in Frugal's eyes.

"You have betrayed my Poppy, Frugal. You know what Poppy does to people that betray him." Frugal laughed nervously. Time hadn't been good to Senor Senior Junior, either. Once a spoiled heir to one of the largest fortunes in the world, Junior was still held beneath his father's thumb, fighting a stale war that he wanted no part of. While still well muscled, his robust tan had faded to his natural skin tone, and due to the lack of hair care products, his normally well styled hair had grown out to just beyond his large shoulders in sweaty straggles.

More people gathered in the shadows around Junior, escorting an individual that was shorter of stature, yet grander of presence than Junior could ever hope to become. "So, this is the traitor? The one that sent the unsecured message that could undo all that I have tried to accomplish here?" Throughout everything, Senor Senior Senior still held onto his honorable demeanor and well raised mannerisms.

"Senior, come on! Look around!" Frugal pleaded, climbing down off of the rubble. "Drakken's gonna find us eventually. We're gonna need help! We need to know if anyone else is still..."

"Silence!" Senior said, barely raising his voice, yet quieting Frugal instantly. "I will not allow dissension to fill my ranks, Mr. Lucre." Senior stated. His short, well trimmed hair had turned stark white now and the dark rings that had always settled around his eyes had become puffy, belying his age. He had been hiding his family and personal henchmen and servants from Drakken's forces, waiting with his immense supply of military hardware and doomsday devices for that one special moment that Senior believed would still one day come. He held out his hand to his son, who reluctantly placed his sidearm into his father's hand. "I'm sorry, Mr. Lucre."

Frugal's nervous smile faded and he held up his hands. "Senior, please..." A shot rang out across the city, echoing through the abandoned streets.

* * *

Kim Possible and Ron Stoppable sat across from each other in the GJ base, listening intently with ear buds in place. They were listening for radio chatter. With most of the communications satellites and cell towers destroyed in the Diablo War, all that was available to most civilians and military personnel was radio and hard lines. While Kim was trying everything she could to detect any stray resistence signals, Ron was on the verge of nodding off.

"Find anything, Ron?" Kim asked, adjusting for static on her own system. "Ron?" she asked again, standing up and looking across the holographic projector to see Ron with his chin propped up in the palm of one hand, his elbow resting on the arm of his chair. "Ron!"

"In here!" Ron responded in surprise, his hands instantly back on his keyboard. "Sorry, Kim. Must have dozed off." he admitted, rubbing his eyes.

"Same dream?" Kim asked. Showing both concern for her friend, and annoyance at his lack of focus, Kim sat back down in her chair. "About prom night?"

Ron ducked down behind his monitor that was built into the desk as he felt himself blush. "Uh... yeah. But if it wasn't for this rhythmic clicking, I wouldn't have fallen asleep in the first place." he continued, moving to switch channels.

"Wait, what?" Kim asked, Ron's words catching her attention. "What tapping?"

"You don't hear it?" Ron asked. "It's just background noise."

"Play it." Kim ordered. Ron took his ear buds out and switched the audio to the room's speakers. A series of clicks and pauses began to echo in the stone and steel walls of the base, repeating in a distinct pattern until suddenly stopping. "Morse Code..." Kim whispered to herself.

"Who's Morris?" Ron asked.

Kim ignored him. "It's an S.O.S, Ron. Someone needs help."

"Shouldn't we wait for the others?"

"No time." Kim said. "Whoever sent that message must be in trouble to risk a message on an unsecured channel and I don't like that way that message just suddenly stopped." she continued, making her way to a reinforced blast door that joined the control room to the Battle Suit Generator. "We'll go in full power, just in case."

Ron was following her, brushing his fingernails against his uniform and grinning. "I'd just like to point out how much voltage I don't need for my Monkey Powers." Kim rolled her eyes as the blast door opened, allowing her access to a massive, cubical generator with an alcove on each side. On each corner, was a waist high protrusion that ended in a translucent orb, filled with arcing electricity.

"Y'know, you could always supplement your powers with a battle suit of your own." Kim said, taking her place in one of the alcoves and resting her hands on the orbs to either side of her.

"Are you kidding?" Ron asked from the doorway where he had stopped. "That looks like it hurts!"

"Only the first time." Kim replied, recalling the first time she had put on the new battle suit, bonding it to her specific DNA. She took a deep breath, preparing herself for the process of regenerating her battle suit's power supply.

"I hear a lot of things are like that..." Ron said with a wry grin, stepping out of the room and closing the blast door.

"I wouldn't know." Kim whispered to herself. She placed her back against the surface of the generator and an intricate harness lowered over her shoulders, placing a capacitor the size of a dish plate over her chest. It gave a high pitched whine as it charged, then activated the generator. Bolts of blue and white energy spewed out from the orbs and capacitor, crawling over her fingers and away from the center of her chest. Dark blue plating began to materialize around her shoulders and legs as the energy from the generator began to take shape. Goose bumps formed on her bare midriff as the streams of electricity formed into tiny plates of blue and silver, bonding together to form a multi layered and flexible chest plate and bracers. The energy then climbed up her neck and across her face, forming a transparent targeting reticle over her right eye; her uplink to her Kimmunicator and various other devices that her fully powered Battle Suit provided. With a final crash of thunder and a ripple of energy, the myonetic circuitry of the suit pulsed through her muscles, and activated the form fitting energy field that protected her more vulnerable parts.

The entire process took less than a few seconds, and Kim was already walking through the blast door as the distinctive sound of the Battle Suit Generator powering down diminished to a low pulse, signalling its readiness. Ron watched Kim pass by on her way to the hanger, then turned to follow when she didn't say a word.

* * *

"Lord Drakken." sounded the haunting mechanical voice of Hephaestus in Drakken's lair. The voice of the intelligence was everywhere for Drakken, an ever present friend in the darkness that his world had become. Drakken was standing in his throne room, tinkering with plans to create a new Synthomech like Erik. When Hephaestus had created a new body for Erik, it had taken immense power from all over the world, sending much of human civilization back to the dark ages and destroying many of the hard lines that the modern world had come to rely on. Now, he needed another way of siphoning power. A doomsday weapon that only he could build!

"Yes? I'm busy!" Drakken growled. His mechanical right arm switched out tools as he needed them, reacting with his thoughts faster than any flesh could.

"A communication has been detected in Sector E-Seven-Two." the voice of Hephaestus said slowly.

Drakken raised his head from his work to listen, his cybertronic body enhancing his senses and logging in to his communication system. 'DitDitDit-Dah-Dah-Dah-DitDitDit...' came the tapping sound, repeating in an endless stream. Drakken grinned. "Foolish..." he said, shaking his head. "Erik!"

Erik stood alone atop a nearly toppled building, looking down at his target. His blue and black armor shined brightly in the moon light, and he crouched, clasping his hands together and resting his arms on his knees. There were a few dozen civilians at the base of the building in the street, scrounging for food and supplies with scavenged flashlights blazing and being shook in fear. "Yes Father?" he asked with a grin.

"A resistance communication has been intercepted in Sector E-Seven-Two. Investigate, and pacify!" Drakken said, confidently returning to his work screen.

Erik frowned. "What about my current assignment? Should I abandon it?" he asked, looking down at the cluster of humans below him.

Drakken thought for a moment, holding up a vital component to his project. His red, glowing mechanical eye zoomed in on the piece at the microscopic level, detecting numerous fractures in the poorly made material. "Bah!" he shouted, tossing the piece over his shoulder. "No, Erik. Once your current assignment is complete, proceed to the origin of the intercepted message."

Erik grinned. "Excellent." he said softly with an evil grin. He stepped off of the building, falling the thirty two stories to land in the street below.

* * *

Kim was holding onto Ron from behind as they flew toward their target. The skyscooter that they managed to fit snugly on together was a far more perfected version of Ron's rocket powered scooter that they had escaped on the night Drakken won. Skyscooter was a bit of a misnomer though, as the flying bike was built more as a hyper sport motorcycle with repulsion platforms where the wheels would have been, and a stabilizer that stuck out to either side with maneuvering rockets attached to the ends that doubled as both landing skids and afterburners when they folded back for high speed flight.

The skyscooters weren't normally meant for long flights, as the forward leaning position was uncomfortable; but with Joss, Wade, and Rufus out with the Kepler, Ron grinned at the chance for a road trip. Kim pressed herself to Ron's back, her waist length red braid trailing out behind her as she closed her eyes. She could feel Ron's warmth, even through her armor and as desolate buildings that had toppled over whipped by in a blur, her mind wandered to what could have been if she hadn't left him behind to rescue Erik on Ron's original scooter.

Her thoughts returned to the situation at hand when the stabilizers extended out to either side and Ron slowly guided the small vehicle into the upper floor of a dilapidated building. The skyscooter settled on its landing skids with a squeak and Kim easily dismounted, drawing her pistol as she did. Ron, however, winced and groaned as his body struggled against the motion of climbing off the bike. His legs, back, arms, and neck were all stiff from a lack of movement and he nearly fell to the floor. "Ow..." Ron whispered to himself, shaking his legs to get feeling back into them.

"You're sure this is where the message came from?" Kim asked, ignoring Ron's complaints. The room they were in had once been an office building, with damaged desks and chairs strewn about and no glass left in the windows.

"Positive." Ron assured her, poking his head out the window to the streets below. "Sorta..." he whispered. There was no sign of recent battles in the wreckage below them, or any indication of any habitation. "It's quiet."

"Too quiet." Kim confirmed, taking a position on the other side of the room. She scanned the scene around and below them, her targeting reticle highlighting possible sniper positions that Drakken's forces would be likely to take. Quickly switching through electromagnetic, infrared, and image recognition views, Kim shook her head. "Looks clear." Ron nodded, stepping over to Kim. She took aim at a building across the street and fired her grapple.

Ron wrapped his arms around Kim's waist and smiled. "Just like old times..." he said, nearly touching his nose to hers. Kim rolled her eyes and stepped out of the building, swinging silently across the street and rappelling smoothly down the outside of the opposite building to the rubble below.

They touched the street and Kim immediately retracted her grapple line, again cautiously surveying the area. She was beginning to wonder if Ron had gotten the coordinates right after all. Standing up on a large piece of jagged concrete, Ron shaded his eyes to look up and down the street for any sign of activity. He frowned, turning back to Kim and shrugging. Suddenly, motion was highlighted in Kim's field of view and she sprang up to Ron, pushing him out of the way. "Ron, move!" she shouted, taking an extended laser blast to her chest plate that knocked her back, sparks spraying from where the blast hit.

"Kim!" Ron shouted back, calling upon his Mystical Monkey Powers and bathing the area in an eerie blue light. Ron himself seemed to absorb it into his features and clothing, and he leapt up onto the top of the rubble, a blazing blue shadow taking form around him. He narrowed his eyes and the tiny motion activated turret took on a crisp appearance to his enhanced vision. His peripherals darkened, creating a tunnel effect around his target.

Kim regained her footing and watched as Ron covered the ground between them and their first attacker in one leap. As he moved, streams of energy began to pour out from every angle and Kim held up a bracer to deflect a shot, returning fire with her pistol. She began a complex routine of acrobatic maneuvers as beams struck her armor and narrowly zipped past. She landed and rolled, turning her head slightly as a projectile sang by, causing her force field to flicker across her body.

Ron noticed the new shooters as well, and he slid to a stop as he passed the turrets causing the solid beam to sweep over his head and causing the new attackers to duck back behind cover. "Hey!" he shouted over the sound of the laser that continued to track him. "We're on your side!" Ron hefted a cinder block as he rolled to the side and flung it behind him, knocking the turret from its mount. Ron grinned until the distinctive sound of a chain saw ripping through concrete echoed around him. A massive black acorn shaped contraption with large teeth surrounding it came spinning toward him, tossing debris from its path. "You've got to be kidding me!"

Kim took several shots with her pistol, knocking out a laser turret each time. Despite the blurs of the soldiers that passed by as she leaped and spun, her reticle managed to take a snapshot of one of the assailants. The armor wasn't mismatched like a typical resistance fighter, their weapons were high caliber, and their motions were fluid and purposeful. These were well trained human soldiers, and the resistance would need every one.

As her battle suit's power dwindled, Kim took cover behind an old steel door that had been blown from its hinges at some point. The sound of projectiles striking steel rang out and Kim considered her options. If she managed to not take many more hits, she could possibly get into one of the ambushing groups and take them out hand to hand. Or, she thought, she could get back to the skyscooter and grab Ron, leaving this irate European resistance cell to their own devices.

The sound of concrete being ground into dust made the decision as a black spinning top burst through the wall behind her. The battle suit flashed as the heavy teeth snagged Kim, hurling her against the far building. "System failure..." came the electronic female voice from Kim's suit as it faded, leaving her defenseless and unconscious in the rubble.

Ron spun at the sound of Kim's battle suit fading. He was backing away from the top, and guiding it through their attacks when he stopped. He could see another top grinding its way toward Kim and he leaped up, his aura blazing brighter. The sky turned deep red and he snatched the Spinning Top of Doom by it's control housing at its apex and hurled it toward the other top. They collided in an explosion of shrapnel and he rushed to where Kim had fallen.

But a man with long, luxuriant black hair and a dark complexion was holding a large energy pistol to her back. "Stay where you are." he ordered, and Ron had no choice. He stopped only ten feet away, his aura still blazing. "Now shut off your glowing light thingy."

Ron narrowed his darkened eyes. "Why'd you attack us?" he asked, feeling he should recognize this man. Soldiers began climbing out from where they had been hidden, armed with military grade weapons and armor. Cautiously, they began to surround him, but Ron never took his eyes from their leader's weapon that was threatening Kim.

"This is what I would like to know!"

"Junior?" Ron asked, squinting at the man that was still threatening his best friend with a weapon. "Just put the weapon down and we'll talk..."

"Put away your glowy light first!" Junior replied, charging the capacitor on his weapon as it let out a high pitched whine.

Ron sighed. Despite the desperation that this team was probably in, he couldn't see Junior being a threat to him, even without his monkey powers at full capacity. The sky cleared around them and the blue halo shimmered, then vanished. "There... now can we..." Ron began before a heavy blow from a golf club landed at the base of his skull.

Ron dropped to his knees, then fell across Kim's unconscious form as Senor Senior Senior stepped into the crowd of his soldiers. He patted a gentle hand on his son's shoulder and smiled cruelly. "Well done, Junior! You have captured the intruders." he said, poking at Ron with his cane. "Now quickly; we must interrogate these traitors and discover who sent them. They were obviously in league with Mr. Lucre, and it is imperative that we keep our location secret from our enemies."

* * *

Erik scanned the area around him, noting the stillness and renewed silence. There had been over thirty organics that had been scavenging for their meager existence in the ruined city and only the sound of an old street sign fluttering in the wind invaded his sensors. "My mission is complete, Father." he said into the air.

Drakken raised his head from his work screen in satisfaction as he heard Erik's voice. "Well done! Proceed to Sector E-Seven-Two, then. I will have a contingent of synthodrones meet you there."

Erik's digitization beam retracted back into his forearm and he narrowed his eyes one last time in a search for any survivors. Confident that there were none, he crouched and leaped as a pair of rocket thrusters folded out of his back, blowing hot exhaust out behind him and rocketing him toward his target.

* * *

Kim raised her head and blinked, her vision coming into focus on metal clamps that held her wrists in place over her gloves. She was held in a comfortable chair by a soft leather harness that was buckled securely over her shoulders and around her waist. At least she was still in her uniform...

There was a guard to either side of her and a well muscled man with long black hair stood in a corner of the room, inspecting his fingernails. "Ah! You are awake!" came an elderly, if dignified voice from behind her. Kim turned as well as she could to follow a familiar man as he walked around in front of her, his jewel topped cane tapping loudly on the tiled floor. "Perhaps you could be kind enough to tell us who you are why you are here?"

Kim looked the man in the eye. He was wearing a well tailored General's uniform, covered in medals. His stark white hair was trimmed well and his dark eyes bore into her, trying to find a weakness. "Senor Senior Senior. It's been awhile." This seemed to surprise Senior and Kim gave a confused smile. "It's me... Kim Possible. Used to thwart your evil plans for world domination all the time?"

"And keep me from my destiny as an international pop sensation!" Junior sulked.

"Junior! This is not the time." Senior scolded sharply. He calmly turned back to Kim with a scowl. "Kim Possible has not been heard from in many years..." he stated. "Why are you here?"

"We intercepted a distress signal and we..." Kim said, trying to explain what they were doing there.

Senior stood up with that evil sneer that he had always worn. "So! You admit to receiving an unauthorized transmission sent on a top secret channel by a known traitor?!" he accused, poking at Kim's chest with his cane.

"Excuse me?!" was all Kim could reply with. "We came here to help!"

Senior's face darkened and he turned away from her. "Then why were you carrying such powerful weapons and armor? Weapons capable of leveling an entire city?"

"Hey!" Kim shouted back. "Reality check, much? You attacked us, remember?"

"To protect ourselves!" Senior bit back. He paused a moment to regain his composure when he saw Junior's fearful eyes. "We need to stay hidden. Stay safe. Continue to train our soldiers in case the day that we are needed comes..."

Kim narrowed her eyes at the man. "That day has long passed, Senior. There are people out there fighting with nothing more than courage and hope." Kim said plainly, and then whispered under her breath, "which is more than I'm seeing here..." Senior spun, raising his cane. Kim didn't flinch, and only kept staring into the older man's eyes. Senior brought the cane to less than an inch away from Kim's neck, and she could feel it shaking against her skin. "Where's Ron?" she asked, not taking her eyes away from Senior's.

"Junior..." Senior said, lowering his cane back to the floor. "Come." he ordered, leaving through a door that whooshed open as he neared and closed behind him and his cadre of guards.

"You should not speak to Poppy that way." Junior said. "He tries his best to keep us all safe, but he is under a great amount of stress. It is my belief that many other men would have given up all hope long before."

"He's gone nuts, Junior." Kim said, suddenly feeling sorry for him. Who knew how long the Seniors had been here, hiding? Their island wouldn't have been safe from Drakken's Diablos and last she had heard, the League of Villains that had been formed shortly after Drakken took control, had been shattered just as quickly after Global Justice had been destroyed. Dementor, Monkey Fist, Motor Ed, the Seniors. They had all been captured, driven off, destroyed, or worse... joined Drakken whole heartedly.

Junior seemed about to argue the point, and then cast his eyes downward. "Frugal Lucre had said many of the same things."

"Lucre's here?" Kim asked. While the cheap ex-villain wouldn't be her first choice in allies, he was at least competent, if annoying. "Where is he?"

Junior only frowned in discomfort before stepping out the door, letting it whoosh closed behind him.

* * *

Ron screamed in agony.

He was strapped down to a metal chair with a set of electrodes placed over his temples, chest, and arms that were sending painful jolts throughout his body, preventing him from concentrating. Words, concepts, ideas, or even thinking of his Monkey Powers resulted in excruciating pain. He had been sitting this way since he woke up, and try as he might, he couldn't help wondering if Kim was still alive, causing another jolt to run through him.

"Ah! Ron Stoppable!" came the friendly, educated voice of Senor Senior Senior. "How nice to see you again." he said, sitting down across from Ron.

"Nice to see you again t... Augh!" he screamed as another jolt spread from each electrode.

"Perhaps you could solve a mystery for me, Mr. Stoppable." Senior said nonchalantly. He placed one hand over the other on the top of his cane and smiled. The door behind Ron whooshed open, and then closed again as Junior stepped in and stood beside his father.

"Always happy to he... ow!" Ron screamed, breathing heavily now as sweat beaded on his face and chest. "I don't suppose one of you... ow! could take this... augh! off, huh?"

Senior gave an evil chuckle. "No, I am afraid not. You see, I believe you are here to destroy us."

"Whu? Ow!" Ron shouted again. He had always joked in High School how it had hurt to think, but now that it was true, it didn't seem as funny.

"Please, explain to me why you broke into a top secret military facility and were carrying enough firepower to level it?" Senior asked.

"Maybe if you had some signage, we'd have known you were..." Ron grit his teeth this time against the pain, trying to bite out the rest of his sarcastic comment. Unfortunately, all that came out was "...nnggh!"

"You see, Ron Stoppable, I know that the only two people with blue skin is Drakken, and a man named Zorpox." Senior explained.

"Uh oh..." Ron said quickly.

"So you see why I cannot let you and your companion go." Senior continued. Ron shook his head in silent confusion. "For suspicion of treason, failure to cooperate in an interrogation, and... most importantly, now that you know the location of this base..." he said, pausing and standing."I sentence you to be executed as a traitor!"

"Father!" Junior said, speaking up in a pleading voice. "Should we not allow Kim Possible and Ron Stoppable to explain themselves better?" Ron was nodding his head vigorously.

"Nonsense, Junior." Senior stated with a smile, turning to his son. "The real Kim Possible would never associate with this Zorpox monster. They are obviously a ruse. A trap. See to their execution, would you?" he ordered, leaving the room.

"Aw ma... augh!" Ron screamed in agony.

* * *

Senor Senior Senior was sitting in his oversized leather chair when Junior entered his father's den. The room was set up as his command center with monitors lining the wall behind his desk, which Senior was now viewing, fingers steepled in concentration. The Flight of the Valkries was playing on an antique record player in a corner and many of the Senior's most cherished trinkets from their island were set upon filing cabinets and his desk. "Junior… do you know why Kim Possible did not win against Dr. Drakken in the Diablo War?"

Junior stopped. "I do not." he said in surprise. Somehow, his father always knew when he was here, and as the door whooshed closed behind him, Junior took a few steps closer to his father's desk, picking up a model of a spinning top of doom.

"It is because she did not have a good theme song." Senior explained, spinning his chair around to face his son. Junior was still playing with the tiny black top, unable to get it to spin.

"Really." Junior said distractedly.

"Yes!" Senior went on, enthusiasm creeping into his voice. "Why, Team Impossible had an excellent theme song! I imagine that this Drakken fellow had an excellent theme song with which to inspire his followers."

"Why did we not have a theme song, then? Perhaps we could have won instead." Junior surmised, still unsuccessful at spinning the top.

"Junior! That is an excellent idea!" Senior said, his face brightening. "As soon as the traitors are dealt with, I would like you to begin working on a theme song with the men."

For a moment, Junior sat upright, letting the model top clatter on the desk's surface. Then the gravity of what his father had just told him came flooding in. "Father…" he said hesitantly.

"Yes, my son?" Senior asked, looking across his desk proudly at his son.

Junior sighed. "I… I think that we should let our prisoners go…" he said. Fear was gripping him like an obsessed groupie that he'd never know, but he had never had a life dropped into his hands like this before.

Senior's face grew dark. "I see…" he said, his eyes shifting from side to side, as though he was making a difficult decision of his own. "My own son has decided to undermine my orders now…"

Junior's face fell. "No Poppy. I simply wish to… I mean, I…" He took a breath and sighed once again. "I am sorry, Father. I cannot harm my blue fox."

"Junior, I am very…" Senior began, now focused squarely on Junior. Even as the door to the den whooshed open and Duff Killigan rushed in, his gaze never wavered.

"Aye!" cried Duff, whose flak jacket was covered by a Scottish tartan. A plaid kilt laced with titanium, covered his waist and bare thighs, ending where his brown boots began. "Doctah Drakken's forces have just entahed ye base! What jould we do?!"

Senior spun his chair around, leaning in close to his monitors. There were synthodrones on every screen, firing energy weapons in a constant barrage as Senior's human soldiers began to fall. They were disorganized, taken off guard. Afraid. Senior clutched his cane and popped off the jewel that rested on the top, revealing a wireless microphone. "Unit two, flank that group of synthetics!" he shouted. "Unit three…"

"Are ye daft, man? They've brought a bloody Synthomech with'em!" Duff shouted. "We can't fight against that!"

"Unit three!" Senior shouted, panic rising in his voice.

"Unit three is down, sir!" came the voice over the speakers.

"Poppy?" Junior asked. "Should we not run and hide?"

Senior slumped in his chair as Erik passed by on his monitors, taking projectile hits with an unmerciful grin and launching salvos of energy. "I… I do not know, my son. I don't know what to do."

"Bah!" Duff shouted. "So much for ye great leadership skills!" He turned, shouting as he ran down the hall and toward the battlefield. "Fer freedom!"

As his soldiers shouted orders and screamed in fear and pain over the speakers, Senior turned slowly to his son and placed his cane on his desk in defeat. "I have failed you, my son. I am sorry."

Junior looked from his father, to the cane, and back again. "Please, Father. Tell them to run and hide!" His father had always been so strong. A pillar that Junior has always looked up to and never lived up to was sitting before him, broken. His heart beating heavily, Junior snatched up the cane. "All soldier people… Run and hide!" he shouted into the microphone.

"Go with them, Junior. Do not make the same mistakes I did…" Senior said, spinning slowly back to the monitors.

"Poppy?" Junior asked. He wanted to be confused, like he often was. He wanted his father to come and explain what he meant. But he understood perfectly. His father would not be coming with him.

"A gentleman must go down with his ship, so to speak." Senior said. "You are ready, my son. Go…" he continued quietly.

* * *

Ron was forcibly pushed into what looked like a luxury suite and sat into a soft leather chair, steel bindings folding up and locking his wrists into place. His vision was blurred from pain now, and he tried his best to keep from concentrating on anything. He could hear the two men that had brought him in leave, and the door whoosh closed behind them. He hung his head, slowing his breathing in an attempt to ease his twitching muscles. "Ron?" came a familiar voice.

Ron's head instantly rose. "Ki… augh!"

"Ron! What'd they do to you?" Kim asked. They were sitting back to back and she could feel Ron's body shake her chair when he yelled.

"Just getting my daily does of elec-c-c-c…" he said, stuttering as another shock swept through his muscles. "…tro-shock therapy."

Kim cringed. "Just a sec." She turned her wrist around, using her fingers to touch a combination of hidden buttons on the heel of her glove. A small vibroshiv slid out from her sleeve, cleanly slicing through the steel clamp around her wrist. She cut her other wrists binding and the harness that held her in place. Not even bothering to stand, Kim gripped the back of her chair and flipped over Ron to land on her feet in front of him. She tore the electrodes from his temples, chest and arms, leaving small hairless circles where they had been. Ron gasped. "Are you okay?" she asked him, tears welling up in her eyes.

"You couldn't have done that a little sooner?" Ron asked, sucking in air from just having hair torn from his arms and chest.

"I didn't know where you were. I figured they'd bring us together eventually." Kim smiled, wrapping her arms around his neck in a tight hug. "Can you walk?"

"I might be able to… if I wasn't strapped to a chair." Ron said, managing a smile. "I imagine my Monkey Mojo can get us out of here…" he continued as Kim cut his bindings. They paused as klaxons began to sound.

"Not good enough. I doubt that that's a training drill." Kim surmised.

"Drakken." They said in unison.

"But your suit is out of power." Ron pointed out, rubbing the newly bald spots on his chest.

"Maybe…" Kim said, looking around the room. "I'm guessing Senior never planned for guests when he was renovating this place." She said, pointing at a large cable that ran from the floor up to a transformer. "That is definitely not up to code."

Ron looked at Kim with a frown. "Admittedly, shop class was yet another subject in which I scored a gentleman 'C'… but I'm pretty sure that that is going to fry you on the spot."

Kim smiled at him. "Not if the suit's modulator grounds me. It should charge the capacitors of the battle suit; just like boosting a car." she explained. Ron looked at her in surprise and confusion. "I paid attention when Wade was explaining it, alright? Besides, you have a better idea?"

"Yes. I blow a hole through this wall over here and we escape, leaving Senior with his crazy self." Ron countered, crossing his arms. "I can't let you do this, Kim." He said, watching her move a chair to stand on in order to reach the transformer. "I'll pull rank if I have to…"

Kim paused, looking back at him. She narrowed her eyes at him, pointing a finger. "You know as well as I do that you're only a Major because Will Du screwed up putting us into the GJ hierarchy."

"I can live with that." Ron said, matching Kim's gaze.

Kim turned back to the transformer, pulling the cable free in a shower of sparks. "I can't live with abandoning anyone to Drakken if I have the power to help them." She said, stepping off the chair.

"I know." Ron replied, his blue aura blazing to life around him. He took the cable from Kim in one hand, and held it out at arm's length. "That's why you're in charge."

Kim shed her black crop top, revealing the skin tight battle suit blue print that she wore underneath. The majority of the undershirt was silver, with a dark blue circuit board pattern that ran across its surface, originating from a central symbol of a Roman Centurion's helmet. "Juice me up."

"Your dad's not gonna forgive me for this." Ron claimed. He closed his eyes and cringed, touching the live end of the cable to the symbol on Kim's chest.

* * *

Erik waded through the resistance fighters, projectiles bouncing off of his armor. The sound of a rocket propelled grenade being launched caught his attention and he lifted an arm, deflecting the object into a synthodrone that walked beside him, showering synthogoo over the area. Immediately, Erik turned to the attacker and straightened his arm. Blue ripples of energy ran down it and formed a ball that crackled before escaping his palm, causing an explosion that set off the soldier's ammunition. "Loser." Erik laughed, continuing on.

"Fore!" someone shouted and a small white ball bounced off of Erik's head, landing in a nearby crowd of synthodrones that exploded into a fine yellow mist. "They'll have to be gluin' ye back together in Hell, laddie!"

Another ball landed at Erik's position and exploded, knocking the synthomech off of his feet. Before the smoke cleared, he lifted himself up and launched himself over the cover that Duff Killigan had been hiding behind. "Give it up, lady." He ordered from behind the Scotsman.

"Lady?!" Duff shouted, spinning and swinging his golf driver across Erik's face. The shaft curled around the Synthomech's head, and he grinned, lifting Duff by the flak jacket in one hand and hurling him against a nearby building, leaving the rogue golfing freedom fighter unconsious.

"Destroy everything!" Erik ordered the synthodrones. "And find their leader!"

* * *

Kim sat against the far wall, smoke rising from her battle suit blueprint. She coughed a few times, waving the scent of ozone away with one hand. Suddenly, Ron stepped through the cloud, still glowing in his mystical blue aura, and offered his hand. "Did it work?"

As Ron pulled her to her feet, Kim said, "Let's find out." Ron took a few steps back and Kim touched the small GJ symbol on her collar. Blue bolts of electricity arced across Kim's body, emanating from the symbol. The circuit board pattern on her battle suit's blue print glowed brightly, transforming the released energy into plating that rippled into being across her shoulders and down her abdomen. Bracers appeared on her forearms and flexible plating followed the bolts of electricity that crawled down her legs to create thigh plating, shin guards, and boots. Lastly, the arcing electricity crawled up her neck and the right side of her face, forming the targeting reticle that appeared over her eye. A flash of light and a clap of thunder signaled the force field condensing to an invisible, skin tight layer of energy that covered her body completely.

"Power levels full." came the electronic female voice of Kim's suit.

Kim drew her pistol and smiled, turning towards the door with Ron in tow. "Let's roll."

* * *

The battle was fierce outside. While Senior's men had the home ground advantage, the synthetics had numbers and were unwavering in the face of destruction. For each synthodrone that fell, three more stepped forward to replace it. Junior was standing among his father's troops with his energy pistol in hand, doing his best to keep the black and purple adorned synthetics at bay. But they were losing ground. Reports of Erik walking past the defensive line and into their command center had already came in. Which meant that they had an unknown number of synthodrones blocking their escape, and a synthomech behind them.

"Surrender!" shouted one of the synthodrones, pointing his rifle at Junior. He frowned, letting his pistol hang by a finger as he raised his arms over his head. Then his mouth gaped open as the synthodrone exploded, covering him in goo. He was spitting out the yellow substance as two forms in blue danced around the synthetics that had surrounded Junior's unit, cutting them down in a hail of energy and Kung Fu.

"I hear synthogoo makes for a good alternative for Le Goop, Junior." Ron Stoppable said, drifting down from a hovering position to stand beside Kim.

"Get your men out of here, Junior. We'll try to hold off Drakken's goons." Kim ordered.

Junior wiped his face with his hand and nodded. "Thank you, Kim Possible. I will not forget this day that my blue fox saved my life!"

Kim rolled her eyes. "Junior?" she asked, gesturing to the men that had already left Junior standing alone.

"Hey!" Junior shouted. "Wait for me!"

* * *

Senior sat quietly in his den. He had turned off his monitors and his antique record player, and as his door whooshed open, a long menacing shadow was cast into the room. He spun his chair around slowly, looking at the mechanical monstrosity that stood in his doorway. In the shadows, Erik could still pass for a tall human man in shiny black and blue armor that flexed and maneuvered as though it was a composite material, molded to a human form, complete with musculature. But as light passed over his face, it became apparent that his skin had a metallic silver sheen made up of many plates that moved with his expressions. His hair never moved, seemingly being only a stylized shiny black plate that sat upon his head. "Senor Senior Senior. I might have known." Erik said, grinning evilly down at the gentleman.

"Ah, Erik." Senior replied with a sincere smile. "Tell me, how is your father?"

"He's good. Y'know. Dominating the world and all that. It's too bad that you didn't join him when he gave you the chance, Senior. You might have had a more prosperous few years." Erik said, holding his arm out in Senior's direction. The top of his forearm folded open as his digitization weapon popped out.

"Your father has lost his way as a villain. He no longer holds to the traditions that he used to." Senior said, remaining still and calm.

"That's because he won, Pops." Erik said. A bright light focused at the lens of his digitization weapon and a beam projected across Senior's body. Slowly, Senior began to split and pixilate into millions of tiny digital fragments, being drained away in a stream of light and color into the weapons lens. As Senior screamed in agony, his voice became electronic, reverberating through the room as though it was a bad recording, until his body in its entirety had dissolved and the light of the digitization ray faded. And as the plastic explosive that had been placed under Senior's desk no longer detected Senior's beating heart, it detonated, collapsing the building on top of the synthomech.

* * *

Kim stood behind a pillar of concrete as synthodrones explored the building she had run into. Through her targeting reticle, she could see where each one was on a graphical layout of the ruins she was in, her suit's sensor package tagging each one as she had gotten their attention. Fortunately for Junior, the synthodrone's orders to destroy Senior's troops had been overrode when Kim and Ron had shown themselves. They had split up, giving the rest of Senior's men a path to escape through.

The footfalls of a synthodrone creeping by was the signal for Kim to act, and she came out from behind the pillar. Before the synthetic had a chance to react, Kim struck him in a double footed kick that sent him crashing through the railing of the catwalk they had been on. The railing shattered, raining wood and metal down on the other synthodrones below. Kim back flipped off of the falling synthodrone, firing two bolts of energy into it's chest before it even struck the floor.

Kim landed in a crouch, and leapt again, bringing an armored boot down on another synthodrone that had turned to face her. As another synthodrone dropped down from the catwalk above, Kim pushed herself to her feet and rolled forward. The synthodrone pressed toward her, firing its rifle as it ran. Kim spun, deflecting numerous shots with her bracers before stopping the synthodrone with one foot and connecting with a kick to its head with her other foot in a back flip that sent the synthodrone stumbling back against a steel rod that was jutting out from the frame of the building, piercing its husk.

Kim's reticle flashed as another synthodrone took aim. Three blasts struck Kim in the shoulder and chest as she leaped. One foot landed on the synthodrone's rifle, forcing it downward and breaking it in half before she used her momentum to knock the synthodrone back and onto the floor. Kim rolled and spun as the synthodrone climbed to its feet, brandishing its broken rifle as a club. It swung early, striking the floor at Kim's feet and she sailed overtop, wrapping an arm around the synthodrone's neck. It's husk cracked as Kim flung the synthodrone forward, over her shoulder to spatter against the far wall.

Detecting the sudden commotion, another drone entered the blown out ruins. Kim could hear its rifle charging and tucked into a flip that would land her on the synthodrone's chest. The rifle's capacitor charged and released, catching Kim in the chest with a bolt of energy that sent her flying back into a wall of shelving, and landing on the floor behind a wooden counter.

The synthodrone began stepping forward cautiously, its rifle aimed at where Kim had fallen. Suddenly, four bolts of energy tore through the counter, perforating the synthodrone. It fell to its knees in a pool of synthogoo as Kim jumped up on the counter, her pistol smoking. "Sensors indicate several squads of synthetics approaching." Kim's suit told her.

"Ron?" she asked into her comm. "I'll meet you back at the skyscooter."

* * *

Ron sat invisibly behind two synthodrones with a grin. Without a sound, he wrapped an arm around one synthodrone's neck, using its rifle to fire at the second before his aura flamed to life and he twisted the neck of the synthodrone in his arms.

He whistled, and a dozen synthodrones turned from chasing Junior's forces, firing their energy rifles as they charged. Ron dodged and weaved as bolts of energy seemed to slowly pass by, rippling the air around them. He met the first synthodrone as he rolled into a hand spring and wrapped his legs around its neck, spinning to the side as he did. Synthogoo spilled out as the husk stretched and tore, slapping the floor as Ron continued to roll to his feet.

Ron was dancing between them, his blue aura flashing with each hit. He rolled over the back of one synthodrone as it ducked, and brought both feet down on the next before crouching in an encompassing sweep kick that sent the group flying. One synthodrone stood back, firing a quick succession of blasts from its rifle, held at the hip. The bolts passed by Ron with no effect, and he ran towards the synthodrone. He planted one foot on the synthodrone's shoulder, the other on its head, and leaped impossibly high to the upper floor of a familiar nearby building.

He rolled in through the blown out window as bolts of energy followed him, striking the ceiling inside the room. Ron walked calmly to the skyscooter that he and Kim had left, and as his aura faded, he brought his comm that was strapped to his wrist to his lips. "Already..."

"Here?" Kim asked with a smile, swinging a leg over the seat of the bike as she grabbed onto Ron's hips. "Let's jet." Ron revved the engine of the skyscooter and spun it around inside the room, exhaust billowing out of the maneuvering jets as they rose the skyscooter off the floor. The stabilizers folded back and the maneuvering jets swivelled, flaring to life as Kim and Ron rocketed out of the building.

* * *

Erik punched a fist through the rubble that he had been buried under, pulling himself free. The fact that Senior had sprung a trap hadn't surprised him, but the inclusion of a self destruct had never been his style. "Sir!" said one of the remaining synthodrones as it ran up to Erik. "Captain Possible has escaped."

Erik looked at the synthodrone in irritation for a moment before what it had said occurred to him. "Kim Possible was here?!" he shouted, knocking the head off of the synthodrone with his arm in a shower of yellow goo.

"Erik?" Drakken asked, carrying the model of his latest device. The model itself held all the schematics for the Power Absorption and Conversion Device that he would require for his Charon Phase of his New World Order. "Report." he said into the air as he stood before the doorway to where Hephaestus was kept.

Erik hesitated a moment before answering. "The resistance cell has been destroyed, Father. I have Senor Senior Senior to add to your collection." he said, watching the synthodrone before him drain out at his feet.

"Excellent!" Drakken said, a mild cheeriness creeping into his voice. "Come home immediately and prepare for upload to Hephaestus." Another villain that had refused his offer to join him was now no longer a threat to his plans for complete world domination.

"Yes... Father." Erik said, knowing his unintentional pause would be detected.

Drakken hesitated opening the blast door for his audience with Hephaestus. "Was there something else?" he asked, knowing he wasn't going to enjoy this news.

"Kim Possible was here." Erik said slowly. "She escaped. Along with Senor Senior Junior."

Drakken's mechanical hand clenched out of reflex, shattering his model into small shards of metal. "Fine! Come home!" he said, suppressing a shout and grinding his metal teeth together in frustration.

"Yes, Father." Erik said. He crouched, and rockets folded out of his back. Surrounding the synthodrones that had converged on his position in a plume of exhaust, Erik leaped into the air. He rocketed straight up in order to clear the tops of the ruined buildings before turning at a horizontal angle and breaking the sound barrier in a loud clap of thunder.

* * *

**Another big thank you to Neo The Saiyan Angel for her beta reading expertise and encouragement in developing this story!**


	4. Yamanouchi

**Yamanouchi**

Ron Stoppable sat in a lounge chair atop of a mesa in the Arizona desert in his boxers and a pair of sunglasses, with his black GJ uniform piled to one side and a military canteen with a tiny purple umbrella sticking out of it. Beside the canteen sat his radio that he was listening to. For the last few weeks, Kim's dad had been picking up communications chatter from someone fighting Drakken's synthodrones in the area. The problem was that there was no record of any resistance fighters here. Whoever was managing to fight Drakken was doing it exceptionally well.

After putting some more sun screen on his nose, Ron sat back in his lounge chair and smiled, narrowing his eyes against the sun. The sky still looked normal here, where cities had been farther apart than in most other regions of the world, leaving wider areas between the Diablo's rampage. As Ron smiled up at a naco shaped cloud that rolled by, his radio sputtered to life. Synthodrones began coming into range, issuing orders and Ron raised his sunglasses, glaring at the radio that had just interrupted his marinating.

* * *

Hirotaka and Kioki were laying flat in the red gravel surrounding a dirty oasis in the American desert, watching as two dozen synthodrones escorted two DoomVees and a hovering tank in search of the bait that the Yamanouchi students had set for them. Rumors of a small, unarmed community of nomads was enough to send a small contingent of synthodrones, but not enough to draw attention from more deadly adversaries.

"Now?" Kioki asked. The young ninja was far too young to be in this battle, in Hirotaka's opinion.

"You watch too many American cartoons." he often told her, irritated himself at how the western culture portrayed the ninja. But Sensei believed that there were individuals everywhere, and in every culture that deserved respect, and Hirotaka respected Sensei. "Remember the Mantis, Kioki." Hirotaka whispered. "We wait until our prey comes into our grasp, not the other way around."

Kioki waited, nearly ready to leap out of her ninja shozoku that made her look like nothing more than a shadow amongst the rock. "Now?"

The hovering tank slowly slid across the pool of water that fed the oasis, passing over a patch of reeds that wavered slightly in the wind. Hirotaka smiled and nodded, flipping a piece of gum into his mouth and pulling his mask down. "Now."

In a shower of shrapnel and sparks, flames erupted from the hovering tank and it began to list sideways, sliding into the water as a group of four ninja rose from the pool of reddish water, discarding their breathing reeds and cutting through surprised synthodrones with their katana.

Hirotaka and Kioki leapt from their positions in unison with several other pairs of ninja, unleashing a midflight flurry of shuriken that quickly swept through half of the synthodrone infantry, draining their synthogoo onto the sandy ground. Hirotaka landed and rolled, throwing two spikes at a group of three synthodrones and catching the outermost two as he climbed to his feet in one swift motion. Dodging a series of energy blasts, his katana swept through the middle synthodrone's rifle, then punctured its husk through the back as Hirotaka spun and thrust the weapon behind him.

Kioki crouched, then sprung to the roof of one of the DoomVees, plunging her katana into the synthetic driver in the cab. As she tried to pull it free for another attack however, the blade refused to draw back. Kioki knew that the Yamanouchi students couldn't afford to lose any of their bladed weapons, and she knelt down, pulling on the hilt of the sword in a desperate attempt to free it.

The synthodrone on the passenger side of the DoomVee readied its rifle as it exited the vehicle, and took aim at the Japanese girl crouched on top. Kioki continued to pull on the katana, sliding it up inch by inch, until her eye caught sight of Hirotaka hurling a shuriken at her. She titled her head slightly, feeling the thin sheet of metal sever a lock of her hair before striking its target behind her. The synthodrone's rifle shot into the air as it fell back and Kioki pulled her blade from the roof of the DoomVee and smiled at Hirotaka through her mask.

* * *

Kim sat in her command chair on board the Kepler as Joss flew the hypersonic craft low over the surface of the Arizona desert. At cruising speed, the ship was nearly silent and more than once, they had moved above synthetic patrols and almost scraped the tops of buildings, and remained unnoticed. They were both in their Global Justice uniforms, conserving their battle suits in case they were forced into combat.

"Wade, Rufus, and I can all see it, Kim. Why can't ya?" Joss asked from her pilot seat.

Kim had been trying to pay attention to her scanners, more to ignore her little cousin's insistence that she and Ron should hook up, than any interest in the vast wasteland of the desert. "Just because Ron is pretty much the only available guy left on the planet, doesn't mean he's the right one." Kim replied.

Joss turned in her seat to look back at Kim, who diverted her attention to a map of the area with known locations of Drakken's bases. "Then who is the right guy, Kim? I'll bet if the whole Drakken thing never happened, you'd be a piece by now!"

"And we'd probably be fighting aliens too... mind watching where we're flying?" Kim asked calmly, pointing toward the forward viewport.

Joss turned forward again, banking sharply as the Kepler nearly struck a mesa, knocking a lounge chair off the top of the formation in the ship's wake. Joss sighed, whispering under her breath. "Well, ya could sure use a good hum..."

"Kim?" came Ron's voice from the comm.

"What's the sitch, Ron?" Kim asked, glaring at her cousin.

"Someone's definitely hiding out here, Kim. They're pretty good at it, too." Ron said. The sound of a distant explosion echoed through the comm and Kim immediately focused her attention on Ron's voice.

"Ron, you okay?!" she shouted.

"Something just went kablooey nearby. I'm gonna check it out." Ron said.

"Lock onto his position, Joss!" Kim ordered, running her fingers across her scanners for any hostile units along their path.

Joss gave a chuckle. "You are so into him."

"Am not!" Kim insisted with a growl.

* * *

Hirotaka and Kioki gathered with the other ninjas as they collected supplies and weaponry. Both DoomVees were fortunately still operable, with only smashed windows and small puncture holes that could be easily patched up. "Remember," Hirotaka instructed. "We must leave no trace that we were..."

Before he could finish, the back of the lead DoomVee unfolded, revealing a death ray being operated by a synthodrone that stood behind an armored plate. The bright green beam of rippling energy tore across the ground at the ninja's feet, sending them scattering for cover. Shuriken and throwing spikes bounced off of the shield that protected the synthodrone and it continued to cut a swathe of destruction with the continuous beam.

As Hirotaka raised his head slightly over the crest of the dune he chose as cover, his eyes caught sight of a brilliant blue glow that seemed to arc in the sky, and drop into the center of the attacking DoomVee. The impact caused a fiery explosion to erupt, sending fragments of metal and synthogoo in all directions and resulting in a visual shockwave that rippled the sand and gravel for several feet around. Kioki looked sideways at Hirotaka. "What was that? Sensei?"

"I fear it may be something far worse." Hirotaka said with a frown. He had heard stories of the synthomech called Erik, though he had never seen the creature. Many other resistance cells that they had spied on to gather information described him as some kind of merciless machine in blue and black armor that would often destroy his own synthodrones in pursuit of his objective. Using hand signals, Hirotaka ordered his fellow ninja to attack, in hopes of either destroying this Erik creature, or leave no witnesses of their being here.

The blue glowing figure began stepping out of the crater he had created and hadn't even left the cloud of dust and smoke before Hirotaka lead the attack. The figure dodged three volleys of shuriken, moving from side to side, then leaping extraordinarily high over Hirotaka's katana swipe. The figure thrust his leg out to the side, knocking the ninja to the ground. Kioki attempted to thrust her katana into the figure's chest, but he side stepped, gripping the hilt of the weapon and letting Kioki continue forward with her momentum, losing her blade and stumbling to a roll. The figure spun and touched the tip of Kioki's katana to Hirotaka's chest as the ninja struggled to stand.

Ron looked around at the ninja that surrounded him. Seeing the black masked warriors in combat was definitely something he thought he would never see again. Out of the corner of his eye, the young Japanese girl began to move and Ron poked the ninja at the tip of the katana in the chest again. "Look, I'm tired; I'm hungry, and I have to go to the bathroom. This uniform is riding up and I'm getting sick and tired of being attacked by people I'm trying to help."

Without warning, another katana touched Ron's throat and he swallowed nervously, feeling his adams apple brush against the edge of the blade. The ninja at Ron's sword tip seemed to chuckle behind his mask. "Perhaps you should complain to our Sensei instead, though I doubt she will show you as much mercy as any of us." he said, gesturing to the wielder of the katana.

Ron slowly turned to look at his attacker and noticed the Japanese woman's eyes widen in surprise. She pointed her katana at the ground and pulled her hooded mask from her face. "Yori?!" Ron exclaimed. Immediately, Ron's aura faded into light blue wisps that trailed off into the air like smoke, and he dropped Kioki's katana, embracing Yori in a tight hug.

Hirotaka and Kioki looked at each other in confusion as they picked themselves up out of the sand.

* * *

Wade and Rufus stood in their full battle suits, watching from a nearby mountain crevice as synthodrones patrolled around one of Drakken's Buenos Nachos bases. The taco sign transmitter seemed to have been abandoned as it tilted at an odd angle, undoubtedly too far away from civilization to be of any more use. Which only begged the question... why was the base still being guarded?

"Wade to Kim." he said, activating his suit's communication system. For now, Wade was using his holographic disguise to blend in with the surrounding rock, taking on a speckled red tone to his armor.

"Kim here. What's the sitch, Wade?"

"Rufus and I found one of Drakken's bases out here, and it's being used for something other than Diablo control. You might want to have a look." Wade explained, zooming in his heads up display on the old, now heavily armored Buenos Nachos building.

"Can't, Wade. We lost contact with Ron. Sit tight, and we'll be there as soon as we can." Kim replied.

"Sure thing, Kim." Wade said, cutting the connection. "What do you think Ron's gotten himself into this time?" Wade asked Rufus.

The faceplate of the bulky, heavily armored robotic body folded back, exposing the naked mole rat in his pilot seat. He chittered a string of squeaks and chirps, which the vocabulator in the suit translated in a deep, obviously electronic voice. "Probably losing his pants again."

* * *

"Lord Drakken..." came the haunting voice of Hephaestus, echoing through the dimly lit throne room.

Drakken turned his attention from the human cadet that had delivered a verbal report on his New World Order project. While machines were loyal to a fault, and efficient in any task they were programmed for, they did tend to lack creativity and intuition, which is something he would need to crush the meager rebellion that continued to thumb their noses at him as 'Lord'. The teenage girl that was dressed in a red and black leather jumpsuit, signifying her as a technical advisor in the Styx phase of his New Order project, quieted mid sentence when Hephaestus spoke. "Yes?" Drakken answered into the air.

"Intruders have been detected in Sector Eight One Gee. They have been identified as Captain Possible's team." replied the disembodied voice.

A grin played at the left corner of Drakken's mouth. "Show me..." He gestured for the cadet to leave and she bowed, exiting through the sliding, triple layered blast door of his throne room. While human subjects were necessary to think in ways that simple synthodrones could not, Drakken had learned his lessons about loyalty from Shego's wisecracking and general disinterest in his plots, and every human henchperson was implanted with a compliance chip, granting him complete control over a subject, should they ever choose to turn away from his plans.

He climbed the few steps to his command chair, his mechanical legs hissing as the actuators pumped and his feet clanged against the steel grating that made up the dais. His blue lined, silky cape billowed around as he sat, and a holographic image of an old, now heavily modified Buenos Nachos base materialized before him. A tiny square was highlighted and the image zoomed in and enhanced. To the human eye, there was still nothing out of the ordinary to see. But as Drakken leaned forward, his right mechanical eye began to focus, the red gleam turned vaguely purple, and tiny electronic chirps began to sound as the prosthetic adjusted, cutting away the background of the image and revealing two armored figures.

"Sensors indicate that Captain Possible is not present." Hephaestus informed him.

"I can see that!" Drakken said plainly. With only a twitch of thought, he mentally scanned the near limitless database within Hephaestus, cross referencing all of the information he had on Kim Possible's team of sidekicks. "Display schematics..." Immediately, the image of the two high tech resistance fighters was pushed aside and a cut away view of vital statistics of Wade Load and Rufus were shown. "So, it's the tech guru and the rodent." he said with an evil smile. "Well now, we can't have a party without the guest of honor, now can we?" A wave of his hand deactivated the hologram and he stood again, touching his gloved hand to his mechanical jaw line. "Erik?"

Erik was in flight, narrowing in on a civilian outpost that had yet to be digitized. His thrusters were flared with his afterburners engaged, causing a thick exhaust trail to be left behind him. "I'm here, Father." he replied, targeting the building that his infrared sensors were detecting the organic life. He extended his arms out in front of him, preparing for an alpha strike.

"Report to Sector Eight One Gee immediately and order the base there to be abandoned." Drakken said, the grin on the human side of his face getting gradually larger.

Erik frowned as he began rocketing through the streets of the city, tossing aside bits of garbage and rubble in his wake. "Understood." Erik turned ninety degrees on the street next to his target, aborting his weapons fire. The single window that remained to protect the inhabitants from the elements shattered with the sonic boom of Erik accelerating away toward his new destination. He looked back in irritation. "Next time..."

* * *

"This is all that is left of the Yamanouchi School, Stoppable-san." Yori said, gesturing to the two dozen ninja as she lead Ron, Hirotaka and Kioki through the temporary base in the rocky caves of a mountain. Most of the ninja in the base were young, and Ron could recall seeing a few of the faces that had been only children the last time he had been to the school, trying to rescue Sensei from DNAmy.

The memory brought a frown to Ron's face and he began searching for the short statured elder. "Yori... why did Rambo here call you Sensei?"

"Rambo?" Yori asked in confusion.

Without taking offence, Hirotaka spoke up to explain. "The Sensei that you knew gave his life to allow the students of the Yamanouchi School to escape." he said, clapping his gloved hands together in a slight bow. "He named Yori to take his place."

Ron's legs felt suddenly very weak and he steadied himself against the rocky wall. "Sensei's gone?" he choked out. "How?"

Yori sat Ron down in a nearby chair, placing a hand on his. "Even as the Oni covered the skies, the Yamanouchi School remained hidden. It was not until Monkey Fist returned with a man that was as sturdy as metal, yet moved and healed like flesh that Sensei had to fight."

"Erik." Ron said, feeling as though he was about to vomit. "But what about his funky ninja powers? And the Lotus Blade?!"

Yori took her hand away from Ron and folded them in her lap, looking down at the dirt floor. "The night the Oni appeared, Master Sensei said his power left him. He had said it had not yet been time, but that there was a new Master. I never understood what it was he meant until now." she continued, then looked back into Ron's eyes. "Master Sensei fought with honor to allow us to escape, but it was the last any of us saw of him."

"But why come here, then? Are you..." Ron began, looking from Yori, to Hirotaka, and back again. "Are you looking for revenge against Drakken?"

Yori gave a slight smile. "Stoppable-san, your American-style misunderstanding of ninja is refreshing. No. Before the Yamanouchi students escaped, Master Sensei charged me with leading them to Shangri-La."

"Shangri-La?" Ron asked in confusion. "Is that a word I should know? Because I never technically got the chance to graduate."

"You may know it as Eden Two." Hirotaka said.

Ron couldn't help but laugh in his high pitched giggle. When he noticed that Yori and the rest of the ninja were staring at him, he stopped. "You do know that Eden Two isn't real, right?"

"Master Sensei believed it was real." Yori stated.

"Sensei!" shouted a ninja that seemed to leap from the shadows in the base, diverting Yori's attention and causing Ron to scream with a feminine squeal. "There is a craft approaching at high speed, yet it makes no sound!"

"Drakken?!" Hirotaka asked in alarm.

"Some sort of trick!" Kioki said in surprise.

"Nope!" Ron grinned, leading the three ninja out of the base to see the Kepler fly in low over the cave's entrance. As the powerful maneuvering jets tilted for vertical landing, the Kepler settled down in the red soil on its landing struts. The Yamanouchi students surrounded Ron and Yori, brandishing their weapons, even though Ron continued to grin like a fool and Yori stood beside him patiently. "It's Kim Possible!"

Kim and Joss Possible descended the entry ramp of the Kepler in full battle armor and weapons charged, if holstered. "Ron?" Kim called to him. "Are you okay?"

"We are sure to be discovered with that vessel on our doorstep." Hirotaka whispered to Yori in Japanese.

Kim's targeting reticle automatically scanned the movements of Hirotaka's mouth, matching the words to her suit's language database and scrolling the text across her heads up display in English. "Joss? We don't want to wear out our welcome." As her cousin touched a control on her wrist, causing a holographic mask to form over the Kepler and making it resemble another rocky outcropping, Kim approached Ron and the group of ninja. "I see you made some friends." Kim said, a near imperceptible glare being focused on Yori.

"Kim, you remember Yori." Ron smiled, gesturing to the ninja beside him.

"Oh yes. I remember." Kim smiled politely.

Although Ron seemed oblivious to the tension between the two women, Joss caught on instantly. "Uh, maybe we should get inside before Drakken sends some troops to find out where his convoy went?" she whispered to herself.

Yori placed her palms together and nodded. "Young Joss Possible speaks wisdom. Come."

As the group entered the cave, Joss slid up next to Kim, whispering, "Who's the guy with the cool hair?" she asked, nodding to Hirotaka, who walked between Yori and Ron. Kim rolled her eyes and shook her head, giving Joss a 'Don't bother' look that Joss narrowed her eyes at. Yori lead them into a section of cave that had a table set up with what looked like a geological survey monitor with a topographic radar image overlaid. Joss let out a whistle. "That's some high tech gear ya got."

"While we were unable to escape with much more than our blades, our strikes against Drakken's forces have allowed us to procure many supplies, though at great cost." Hirotaka explained.

"Heh... yeah. I mean..." Joss stammered.

"Yori's looking for Eden Two, Kim." Ron interrupted, standing between the two women as the group crowded around the monitor. "Tell her it's suicide."

Kim was looking down at the display, hesitating before Yori spoke up. "It will do no good, Stoppable-san. Master Sensei instructed me to bring the students to Shangri-La, and that is what I will do."

"How do you know Eden Two exists?" Joss asked. "It could even be a trap."

Kim stood silently as her friends and the ninja argued. She could feel Ron staring at her as he waited for her to talk Yori out of looking for a mythical place that somehow existed untouched by the war torn world. "How do you intend to find it, Yori?" Kim asked, still staring down at the monitor.

Ron's mouth gaped open. Kim refused to look at him though, and she listened for Yori's reply. "We have a contact." she said. The answer was vague, as Kim expected. Any rumors they had heard about Eden Two had turned up as dead ends. Neither Wade nor the Tweebs had been able to find anything resembling a concrete lead on its location. Though if they could, she supposed Drakken would have destroyed it already. "We have lost too much to give up hope now, Stoppable-san." Yori said, placing a hand on Ron's shoulder.

"But..." Ron began.

"I guess I don't have to tell you how difficult it's going to be, considering you've made it overseas." Kim said, standing. "But Drakken's taken notice of you now. You're going to need a lot of luck to get out of the sector."

"Kim..." Ron said.

"Then we will need to prepare." Yori said, nodding to her clan of ninja. As she began spouting orders in Japanese, Ron turned to Kim with an angry look in his eye. Before he could speak, the crowd of ninja had vanished and Yori pulled Ron's face to hers, placing a light kiss on his cheek. "We will see each other again after this, Stoppable-san." she said before leaving.

"Come on, Joss." Kim said, turning to leave as well.

Ron grabbed her arm to stop her. "Kim, help me! Why didn't you talk her out of it?!"

Kim looked him in the eye, her reticle automatically measuring his anxiety. "Ron, I learned a long time ago that talking someone out of something that they believe is the right thing to do can be a very bad idea."

"Wade and Rufus found a base that we need to have a look at." Joss said, placing a hand on Ron's arm. "Piece of cake. Stay. Maybe you can talk her out of it. You're the new Monkey Master after all, right?" Joss smiled.

* * *

Wade and Rufus ducked as the sound of a rocket flew over head and Erik landed gently in a gust of dirt and exhaust. The guarding synthodrones crowded around, awaiting orders from their warlord. "We're abandoning this base! It's of no further use to my Father's plans." Erik said. "See to it!" As the synthodrones nodded and began seeing to their new instructions, Erik crouched and rocketed into the air again before veering off into the distance.

"Kim?" Wade asked into his comm.

Kim lifted her hand to pause Ron, seeing Wade's face appear in her heads up display. "What's the sitch, Wade?"

"Erik just touched down and ordered the base abandoned. Want us to go have a look before it's cleaned out?" Wade said.

"No. Joss and I are on our way. We'll go in together." Kim said, cutting the connection. "Some things just aren't meant to happen, Ron." she smiled sadly, turning her attention back to him and placing a hand on his shoulder. "Get caught up with Yori. We'll be back for you in the Kepler in a bit." she said, turning toward the exit with Joss following behind.

* * *

Kim, Joss, Wade, and Rufus each took aim at a synthodrone that had been left to finish the clean up outside of the base, cutting them down in a shower of energy. "Wade, get the door." Kim ordered as the group raced toward the front entrance with Rufus watching the desert behind them.

"This'll only take a sec." Wade said, running up to the door's control mechanism. Making a fist, a long spike extended from his right bracer that he inserted into the lock. A few moments later, after his suit automatically sifted through the possible combinations, he twisted his arm and the door slid open.

"You continue to rock, Wade." Kim grinned, moving silently into the base. Keeping her pistol steady, she swept the room for any synthetics; first visually, then watching for her reticle to highlight any targets. When nothing presented itself, she waved for the others to enter. "I'm not picking anything up. How about you guys?"

"Nothin', Kim." Joss stated. "Looks like they flew the coop!"

A few minutes of searching the base lead the group to a column in the center of the command room, which had been converted from the Buenos Nachos manager's office in all of the transmission bases. "It's the computer core, Kim. If there's data left to be found here, that's where it'll be."

Kim and Joss skirted to the opposite entrance of the command room, scanning the area for synthodrones. "Can you crack it?"

Wade hooked up his battle suit's computer to the core of the base, through a set of universal cables that he extended from the kit beneath his bracer. "Drakken's really upgraded his systems in the last few years. It'll be tough, but it'll only take time."

"You've got an hour before we blow this place. Joss, set the charge. Rufus and I will see what else we can find."

"You got it, Kim." Joss acknowledged.

* * *

Ron was still looking over the monitor that the Yamanouchi students had set up in their makeshift base. The rest of the clan were still all collecting supplies from their latest target, or scouting a route through Drakken's forces to the north. So far, no word had come back from them, or Kim. Yori herself had decided to meditate in the closest thing she had to a room: an offshoot cave separated by a sheet. So far, this had left Ron alone with his scattered thoughts. He wasn't a brilliant tactician, or even a ninja master, despite the title of Ultimate Monkey Master that had been bestowed upon him. Having the skills of all the past masters of Tai Shing Pek Kwar downloaded into his brain by the monkey idols had been no replacement for the wisdom and experience that Master Sensei had. If it was, Drakken wouldn't have taken over. No matter how much Ron tried to convince himself otherwise, he still felt as though he hadn't been ready for the full mystical monkey power when he had rescued Kim on prom night.

"Stoppable-san." called Yori quietly from behind the curtain of her room. "Would you please join me?"

The sound of his name jolted Ron from his thoughts and he looked over the monitor again. The synthetics hadn't moved, and the northern border of the sector was still blocked. "I really wish you'd reconsider looking for this Shaggy-La place, Yo..." Ron began as he pushed aside the curtain. "...ly Moley." Yori was sitting on a mat on the dirt floor, across from another mat on the other side of a table sheet that had a white, Japanese tea set placed carefully upon it. But Ron's attention was locked on Yori, who was wearing a white, translucent kimono that was decorated with red and gold eastern dragons, yet showed her dark complexion beneath it. She gestured for Ron to sit across from her, then poured tea from the pot into each cup. Ron swallowed nervously, unconsciously keeping his distance as he skirted the cave wall before kneeling on the mat, wringing his hands. "Y-You call... called?" Ron stammered, adjusting his collar.

Yori lifted her cup in both hands, a nervous smile playing at her lips. "I am afraid, Stoppable-san." she admitted, diverting her eyes from Ron to her tea.

"Hmm?" Ron asked, lifting his gaze to Yori's face. "Afraid? You're afraid? I mean... of what?"

"I'm afraid that I am not ready to be a Sensei to the other Yamanouchi students." she said, taking a moment to sip her tea.

"But Sensei said you were ready!" Ron exclaimed.

"No, Stoppable-san." Yori replied, looking him in the eye. "Master Sensei told me I was not ready, but that I must still take this journey."

"But why would he tell you that?" he asked with a frown.

"Because Master Sensei has never told me an untruth."

Ron was about to reply when he realized how Yori had trapped him. "Which is why you trust him on the Eden Two thing..." Ron said with a sigh.

"You learn well, Stoppable-san." Yori smiled, taking another sip of her tea.

"You're a good Sensei." Ron replied with a wink, lifting his own tea cup in his hands as Yori had done.

Yori giggled, covering her mouth with one hand and placing her cup on the table sheet between them with the other. "Stoppable... Ron-san..." she said, looking through her eye lashes at him. "As Sensei, I would like to invite you to join us. You are a previous Yamanouchi student." Yori began, leaning in close to Ron. "You are the Monkey Master." she whispered, drawing in closer.

"But what..." Ron said, his breathing coming more frequent and heavy.

"The Guardian of Yamanouchi and the Lotus Blade." Yori said, closing her eyes.

"About..." Ron continued, letting Yori touch his lips with hers. His eyes rolled back and closed as his hands began sliding up Yori's silk kimono. Memories began flooding through his mind of the last time a woman had kissed him so passionately, and the word escaped his lips in the moment that Yori pulled away for a breath. "...Kim?"

"Sensei!" Hirotaka exclaimed, pushing through the curtain to Yori's room. Ron turned in surprise as Yori pulled away, folding her arms over her chest. Hirotaka lowered his gaze to the floor in an embarrassed bow, placing his palms together. "I am sorry, Sensei. But it seems the synthetics have moved from the northern border, moving East."

"Kim was going East." Ron said, leaping to his feet. Yori stood, sensing more information that Hirotaka had yet to share.

"Kim Possible is trapped." Hirotaka said with a frown.

Ron turned to Yori, his eyes hopeful. "I could use your help."

Yori turned away. "If it was only me, Stoppable-san, I would. But I must think of the Yamanouchi students."

Ron nodded. "I guess I'd do the same..."

"For Kim Possible." Yori agreed with a sad smile. "Fight with honor, Stoppable-san. You will win."

"Thanks, Yori." Ron said with a smile. A quick jog brought Ron outside of the base with Yori and Hirotaka following closely behind. In an instant, Ron blazed with a blue light, flashing brightly as he leaped up the mountain, moving instinctively like a monkey across the rocky terrain.

"He is brave enough, Sensei." Hirotaka said, watching Ron become a blurring light in the distance.

"The ferocity of the ancients is within him, Hirotaka." Yori said, feeling the cooling wind blow her kimono around her arms and legs.

* * *

Drakken watched as Kim Possible and her team explored the transmission base. The security cameras were all active and well, following them through the halls as they moved quietly with the belief that they were as yet undiscovered. With a mental command, he contacted the human commander of the synthodrones in Sector Eight One Gee. "Fist!"

The receiver in Monkey Fist's ear squealed with feedback as Drakken yelled, causing him to wince. "Must you always yell?" he asked in a bored tone. He was standing amongst a literal army of synthodrones that were currently shut down to avoid detection by Kim Possible and her little cadre of freedom fighters. Ever since he had willingly joined Drakken during the assault on the League of Villains, Monkey Fist had been regretting the decision. At first, he thought he could be clever enough to manipulate the blue skinned cyborg into using his synthomech crony to finally snatch the Lotus Blade from the Yamanouchi school. Instead, he had been knocked unconscious in the battle with the Master Sensei, and when he awoke, Erik had said that both Master Sensei and the blade had been lost. Not that it mattered, he supposed. Since his mystical monkey powers had been torn away from him on the night that Drakken had begun to take over the world, he couldn't control the Lotus Blade anyway. But it may yet be the key to regaining those powers.

He was convinced that this Hephaestus contraption that Drakken prattled on about held the secret to what happened to both the blade, and the Master Sensei. "Yes, I do, Fist. Otherwise, you don't pay attention, do you?" Drakken asked, interrupting Monkey Fist's thoughts.

He sighed. "Yes, Drakken."

"Yes, what?" Drakken asked.

"Lord Drakken." Monkey Fist corrected in utter humiliation. At least as Montgomery Fiske, he had earned his Lordship title. All Drakken had done was destroy anyone that opposed his own self titling. And if it wasn't for the compliance chip implanted in his head, Monkey Fist would have bid the tyrant farewell too.

"Better." Drakken replied. "Kim Possible and her little group are here. Wipe them out. All of them." Drakken said cooly.

"With these?" Monkey Fist asked, looking around at the synthodrones. "Perhaps if I had my monkey ninjas..."

"Oh, please! Your furry little warriors couldn't fight their way out of a zoo!" Drakken argued. "Now use what you have available!"

Monkey Fist shook his head and sighed. "You honestly expect these automatons to win against Kim Possible and Ron Stoppable?"

"Who?" Drakken asked. The hologram before him showed four of Kim Possible's team, including herself. "Wait, where's the other one?! The buffoon!"

"Scanners indicate that subject Ron Stoppable is en route to Kim Possible's location." Hephaestus said in its deep, haunting voice.

Drakken growled. "Monkey Fist, take care of Kim Possible!"

"As you wish." Monkey Fist sighed as the synthodrones powered up around him.

"Erik!" Drakken shouted into the air.

Erik stood on a mountainside, watching the transmission base to make sure no one escaped. "Yes, Father?"

"The buffoon is coming to save his friends. Make sure that he's... detained." Drakken ordered.

Erik grinned, searching the landscape and finding a bright blue gleam racing through the mountains. "Gladly." he said as he engaged his rockets.

* * *

Kim and Rufus moved into a large storage room that had been lined with titanium barrels. The room itself had a sterile smell to it, much like a hospital or laboratory, and the barrels were black with a red symbol imprinted on it that Kim didn't recognize. Even though Rufus' robot body wasn't exactly stealthy, Kim was keeping to the columns and other cover in the base, moving from cover to cover and scanning the area.

"What do you suppose is in these barrels?" Rufus asked through his suit's electronic vocabulator.

"Chaos." Monkey Fist said in his British accent as he stepped out from around a corner on the far side of the room. He was quickly flanked by more than a dozen synthodrones that lowered their rifles at the duo. "And it will soon be your undoing, Kim Possible."

"Monkey Fist?" Kim asked in surprise. "You're working for Drakken? I thought you would have gone your own way after the League of Villains fell apart."

"Oh, I had contemplated that, but as Professor Dementor was being broken down into digital code, I decided to throw my lot in with the winning side. Besides, now I get to finally see my not so teenage foe meet the same fate." Monkey Fist taunted with a pleasant tone.

Kim narrowed her eyes and raised her energy pistol. Before she could pull the trigger though, the air between them shimmered. "Ah, ah, Kim Possible!" Drakken grinned as his holographic image materialized in mid air in the center of the room. "You'd be wise to watch your fire. These barrels are filled with a highly contagious bio weapon the likes of which this world has never seen."

Wade and Joss stopped at the corner behind Kim and Rufus, hearing Drakken's voice. Wade had completed his download, and he and Joss had begun making their way toward Kim's position, their scanners blaring to life with signs of synthetics throughout the base. "Looks like we've got trouble, Joss." he whispered. Joss nodded, drawing both energy pistols and listening to Kim and Drakken's conversation.

"Drakken. You're looking sharp." Kim retorted. It was the first she had seen of him close up since prom night. The right side of his face had been covered by a flexible metal plate, with a bright red monocle covering his right eye. The plate ended at his hairline and stretched across his chin, replacing his jaw completely. His right arm was mechanical, ending in a wicked looking, four fingered grasping claw, while his left arm was sheathed in an armored sleeve that was connected to the life sustaining suit of shiny black and blue armor that covered his torso. From his heavily plated shoulders hung a blue lined, black silky cape that hung down to his knees, and both legs were now replaced by fibrous cables that took the place of musculature in amongst metal supports, bracing, and servos.

"You like?" Drakken asked, flourishing his cape.

"No." Kim said, shaking her head. "I mean you look sharp. With all the metal and blades and spiky stuff." she continued, a sarcastic smile crossing her face.

Drakken growled, reaching out towards Kim with his mechanical hand. "Oh, you laugh, Ms. Possible..."

"It's Captain, now, actually." Kim corrected.

"Gah!" Drakken growled. "You won't look so smug as a corpse! Actually. 'Captain'!" he said, emphasizing her rank. "Destroy them! And do be careful with your weapons, Kim Possible. One stray shot will release the toxins in these barrels, destroying anything organic in the base." he grinned. "Fortunately, my synthodrones don't need to be as careful! Muahahah!" he laughed as his holographic image faded.

Joss dived into the middle of the hallway with both pistols blazing, firing at the ceiling above a shocked Monkey Fist and collapsing pieces of slag and sheet metal onto him and the synthodrones. He seemed surprised that Drakken would put him in such a dangerous situation, and that Kim's team would attack anyway. But Joss's attack was only meant as a distraction for the synthodrones. The moment Drakken vanished, Kim raised her pistol again, taking aim at Monkey Fist before pulling the trigger. Her grapple fired out, zipping past the ninja master's ear and pulling Kim toward the group of synthodrones. Rufus charged forward with an electronic yell, knocking barrels out of Wade and Joss's line of fire.

"I'm guessing..." Kim said to Monkey Fist as she landed on his chest with both feet, knocking him to the floor. She rolled forward, allowing her myonetically enhancing suit to give her the strength to pulverize a synthodrone beside her with a series of strikes. "...that Drakken's given these things..." she continued, spinning in a sweep kick that knocked down several more synthodrones, while narrowly dodging Joss and Wade's energy bolts. "... orders to blow these barrels if we start winning." Kim took a rifle blast to the chest, refusing to flinch at the resulting shower of sparks as she knocked the synthodrone's rifle to the side and followed through with a high kick to it's head, sending it spinning to the floor. "I would suggest you help if you don't want to get caught up in the fallout!"

Monkey Fist leaped to his prehensile feet. "I prefer option B." he grinned, his simian fangs shining. Even in amongst the synthodrones, Monkey Fist settled into a Tai Shing Pek Kwar offensive stance. "I'll destroy you myself, and bring your head to Drakken alone."

Kim sighed. "I guess I should have seen this coming."

* * *

How could Ron not have known this was coming? Kim was trapped in one of Drakken's bases with synthodrones out the ying yang, and he had stayed behind, trying to convince Yori to lose hope in something that Master Sensei had entrusted her to do. A smile creased his lips as he ran. The kiss was nice though, not to mention the kimono that Yori had been wearing. It had been the first kiss he had received since the last time she had left a peck on his cheek. So why did he have to mention Kim?

Ron was a blue haze; a comet moving across the desert, turning the red sand purple as he passed. He leaped from rocky outcropping to outcropping, instinctively climbing and falling, running and jumping, even moving on all fours as he moved through rock formations. But he still couldn't shake the feeling that if something happened to Kim, it would be because he wasn't there. He dropped off a cliff, slowing his descent before landing and rolling. "You've really messed up this time, Stoppable." he said to himself aloud as he got to his feet. Suddenly, something dark and shiny struck his throat, sending him spinning and sliding in the sand for several feet.

"I couldn't have said it better myself." Erik growled, walking over to Ron, who was doing his best to roll onto his hands and knees, and catch his breath. His blue aura flickered as his concentration waned. He knew that if he allowed his Monkey Powers to fail, Erik wouldn't hesitate to digitize him. He was still choking when Erik grabbed him by the collar and flung him into the rocky wall of a mesa. "Now, you little dweeb, Kim isn't around to save you."

Ron hit the ground again with rubble falling into the sand around him from the rocky formation he had struck. "Ow..." he coughed, spitting out dust as he lifted himself up onto his hands and knees. He could hear Erik's arm cannons charging, and he stood, his aura taking on a deeper hue as he looked at Erik with dark eyes.

Erik's arms rippled with energy as a massive bolt collected and released from each palm, blasting away the rock as Ron moved with lightning speed. With the bone chilling, hungry screams of a thousand monkeys echoing across the countryside, Ron leaped the distance between him and Erik, carrying the rubble from the explosion with him in his wake. Erik held out his arms, firing blasts of energy blindly as he was pelted with rocks and sand. For a moment, Ron had vanished from his visual scans and as the dust cloud surrounded him, a flash of light and thunder struck Erik in the chest, knocking him onto his back and causing him to slide in the sand until striking a rock.

The rubble and sand fell around Ron as he squatted down, performing a Monkey Kung Fu kata and taking a deep breath. With one outstretched hand, he waved for Erik to challenge him. "Bring it, chrome dome." Erik grinned as he spun around onto his feet and crouched, unfolding his rocket thrusters from his back. The ground shook as he skimmed along, the acceleration shockwave rippling the sand into tiny dunes along his path. He caught Ron around the waist before he could move out of the way. Ron knew the rock formation was still behind him and forced his elbow into Erik's shoulder several times in an effort to escape before the synthomech embedded them both into the rock face in an explosion of debris.

After a few moments, as the dust began to settle, Ron crawled out of the rocks and sand in a fit of hacking coughs, shaking and wincing in pain. He was holding his chest with one hand, and dragging Erik's arm with the other as he moved away from the impact crater. His head was pounding, his back and chest were aching, and he was certain one shoulder was dislocated.

He only made it about a dozen feet before the rubble began to shift and tumble away, and Ron struggled to his feet. His aura faded into wisps of blue smoke, leaving him defenseless and on the verge of unconsciousness. Erik's remaining hand clamped down on Ron's dislocated shoulder and he screamed out in agony, swinging Erik's detached arm across the synthodrone's head with a satisfying metal on metal clang. Erik dropped Ron to the ground as Ron let go of the arm and fell, using his legs to push himself away on his back. Calmly, Erik picked his own arm up out of the sand and held it in place. A white welding flash fused the arm to his shoulder socket, and he flexed it, grinning. "Thanks, loser." he said. "I was looking for that."

Ron shielded his eyes against the sun with his good hand, looking up into Erik's face. Lines of white light were forming over his face and chest where he had taken heavy damage, and was now regenerating. "Be gentle. It's my first time." Ron coughed out a laugh as Erik's digitizer ray popped out of his newly attached forearm.

"You wi..." Erik began before his head vanished in a flash of green light. His arms seemed to flail in surprised silence, looking for the lost body part before his body fell backward. Ron looked back as Yori, Hirotaka, and several ninja rushed up to him from the Doom Vee they had procured earlier. The death ray mounted on the back of the vehicle was smoking, a sign of it being overcharged.

"Stoppable-san!" Yori shouted, helping Ron to his feet.

"I'm okay." Ron lied. "Why are you here?" he asked, trying to look at Yori through a swollen eye.

"It would be dishonorable to leave Kim Possible and yourself to fight Drakken alone, after all you have done for the Yamanouchi School." Yori explained. "Master Sensei would not have approved of carrying on without lending our skills. Now, let us go and save your Captain." Yori smiled.

Ron was looking peacefully into her dark eyes and returned the smile, until Hirotaka set his dislocated shoulder.

* * *

As Rufus waded through the growing number of synthodrones, taking energy hits to his armored robot body and pulling limbs off of synthetics, Joss and Wade were doing their best from the cover of the hallway to thin out the supply of enemies without risking hitting the barrels. Kim and Monkey Fist continued to parry and strike in the crowd, each taking opportunities to divert the synthodrones rifles away from the deadly toxins that threatened both of them. "We know how to remove the compliance chip, Monkey Fist!" Kim shouted, blocking one of his strikes with one arm, spinning to hit him with an elbow, and kicking a synthodrone's rifle before the bolt went into a pile of barrels.

Monkey Fist blocked her elbow with a forearm, thrust the heel of his palm into Kim's back, and reached out with a prehensile foot before a nearby synthodrone could fire it's rifle, and redirected it toward Kim. "You've already siphoned away my Mystical Monkey Power! At least with Drakken, I get the pleasure of destroying you!" Kim locked arms with a synthodrone and twisted, rolling over its back and allowing it to intercept the shots from the rifle Monkey Fist held in his foot. "Even if it is with these mindless automatons under my command!"

Kim tossed the draining husk of the synthodrone in her arms toward Monkey Fist, knocking the rifle out of his grip. "What do you think's going to happen if you do?" Kim asked with a grimace as another troop of synthodrones entered the storage room, pointing six rifles at Kim's head. "You think Drakken's going to let you just walk away? The moment there's no one left to stand against him, he's not going to need anything other than machines." she said, raising her hands in surrender. Her targeting reticle was flashing a red threat assessment that she was trying hard to ignore. She could hear Rufus pivoting his robot body in the thick layer of synthogoo on the floor, his damaged servos grinding, and the smoldering armor plates sizzling.

Monkey Fist pushed the heavy husk of the synthodrone off of himself and closed the gap to Kim, looking down into her face. "Oh, there will always be some hero or other that wants to save the world. But once I find where he's hiding the Lotus Blade and I regain my Mystical Monkey Powers, we will see who rules the world then!" he laughed, reaching an eerie octave usually reserved for more primitive primates.

"You're more insane than Drakken." Kim said, narrowing her eyes.

"It's a villain thing, I suppose." Monkey Fist grinned. "Besides, I'm guessing that once Erik ends your pitiful friend's life outside, I'll be regaining those powers he stole from me!"

"Ron?" Kim said quietly. Through her reticle, an inaudible squeal showed up as a ripple on the outside wall behind Monkey Fist and she dropped into a split. The synthodrone's rifles fired instantly as she fell, catching each other in the crossfire as Kim thrust a fist forward into Monkey Fist's mid-section. The wall behind him exploded inward as he doubled over, falling to his knees.

A cloud of shuriken pierced the smoke and dust of the explosion, tearing through the first line of synthodrones that managed to stay standing, followed by black clad ninja that were swinging katana with perfect precision, spattering synthogoo even further around the room. "Need some help from a warrior hero?" came Ron's voice from a silhouette that stood hazily in the makeshift exit.

"Ron!" Kim cried, running forward and throwing her arms around him.

"Ow!" he replied, wincing in pain. Kim backed off, looking down at Ron's battered body. One arm was in a sling, while the other supported his body on a crutch. One eye was swollen and his face and uniform were cut and torn.

"Sorry..." Kim said, trying to hold herself back from hugging him again anyway. "We'll get Joss to take a look at you as soon as we're home."

"Kim!" Joss shouted, "My counter's almost done. We've got twenty seconds before this place implodes. I hope you're done lookin' around."

"Let's get..." Kim said, looking back. But Monkey Fist was nowhere to be seen, and only the outline in the synthogoo where he had fallen remained. "Nevermind. We need to jet!" she ordered, helping Ron onto the ninja's DoomVee before climbing onto the back herself. Even though the death ray had now been removed, the vehicle barely held all of the occupants and Kim's team had to hold on tightly to keep from falling off as the DoomVee raced across the desert. She looked back, watching as the main supports of the base collapsed, and the building fell in on itself before being consumed in a fireball. She hoped that whatever was in those barrels was the last she'd ever hear of it.

* * *

"You're sure there's nothing else we can help you with, Yori?" Kim asked. Her team were out of their synthogoo soaked armor now, moving comfortably in their GJ uniforms. "You just saved all of our lives."

Yori smiled and bowed. As Wade and Joss prepped the Kepler for a return home, Ron stood beside Kim with Rufus sitting on his shoulder, waiting their turn for good byes. "It was our honor, Kim Possible. While Drakken's forces are chasing you, we will make our way across the Northern border."

"Fair trade, I guess." Kim smiled, performing a formal bow that Yori returned.

As Kim turned toward the Kepler, Ron limped into her place. "Yori, I..."

Yori giggled, covering her mouth as she did. "Oh, Stoppable-san. You and your American style protectiveness of women." she smiled, touching her hand to his cheek and letting it trail down to his chin. "We will be fine, and we fill find Shangri-La."

Ron nodded with a sad smile and Rufus waved one paw, while wiping his eyes with the other. Yori stretched up to touch Ron's lips with hers once more. "I'll see your around, Yori."

Yori pulled away and smiled. "No, Stoppable-san. We are ninja. We will see you."

"Little friendly for a ninja, isn't she?" Kim asked, leaning against the Kepler's hull.

"Huh?" Ron asked, turning toward Kim. When he turned back, Yori and the rest of the Yamanouchi students were gone. "Aw..."

"Come on, Warrior Hero. Let's get home before Erik decides to grow a new head." Kim said, helping Ron up the stairs and into the Kepler.

* * *

"But once I find where he's hiding the Lotus Blade and I regain my Mystical Monkey Powers, we will see who rules the world then!" Monkey Fist heard his words repeated as he stood in Drakken's throne room. Erik stood beside him, fully regenerated. The synthomech had found him traveling the desert, wounded and dehydrated. The mechanical monster had digitized him for ease of transport back to his master, breaking down his very being into easily compressed information, then used the same process to land him at Drakken's feet. Both processes were excruciatingly agonizing and Monkey Fist was now shaking in both fear and pain.

"So... you're planning a little uprising of your own, Fist?" Drakken asked as he turned his chair toward the genetically modified human. "Erik told me that both the old man and the weapon he wielded vanished without a trace when you led him to the ninja school. I believe it was you who told me all of the students were destroyed. Yet there they were, rescuing Kim Possible!" Drakken yelled. "Not to mention the buffoon!"

Monkey Fist looked haggard, and felt even worse. Even with all of the Mystical Monkey Powers at his disposal, Ron Stoppable was nearly vanquished by Erik. Doubt crept into Monkey Fist's thoughts. Even if he had the Lotus Blade, and all of his training and mystical powers... could he overthrow Drakken? "I..." Monkey Fist said, his teeth still chattering. Suddenly, his legs wobbled and he dropped to his knees. "I am... sorry."

"Do not fail me again, Fist..." Drakken ordered, continuing to rotate in his chair. "Or next time, you won't be coming out."

* * *

**Another special thank you to Neo the Saiyan Angel, for corrections and development inspirations. In the original Captain Power series, this plot line was titled War Dogs.**


	5. A Mirror in Darkness

**A Mirror In Darkness**

Mara stoked the fire that her three sisters and grandfather were crowded around, sending sparks sizzling into the air. She was excited, and was finding it difficult to sit still. "Mara! You're getting ash all over the rabbit!" Lara shouted, snapping Mara's attention back to their meal. The small morsel continued to turn by Lara's hand and Mara was almost tempted to give the whole thing to the rest of her family.

"Oh, it doesn't matter, Lara!" Kara said as she poured some boiled river water into a dented tin cup they had often used for camping, before the Diablo War. She carefully handed it to her grandfather, guiding his hands around it. It was during a Diablo attack that he had lost his sight, and he had considered himself lucky since then, having memories of the world before, locked in his mind. "Here, Grandpa. Take this."

"Kara's right." Mara grinned. "Captain Possible's coming. They say she's got a hiding place far away from here that the robots never got to. A whole city of people. With food, and clothes, and..."

"If Kim were still around, she would have done something a long time ago." Tara said with a frown. She was the second oldest after Lara, but instead of complaining about every little thing in their lives, Tara had resigned herself to the situation. Kim Possible had never returned to the prom after the woman in green and black came and took her date. When the Diablos continued to rage across the planet, everyone assumed the worst. Humanity had been on the run ever since, Tara and her family included.

Mara, the youngest, had been only eleven when the Diablo War started, and seemed to only have vague memories of what the world had been like before. She snorted. "Don't be a pessimist, Tara! Like you know anything about Captain Possible, anyway!"

Tara frowned again. She didn't like dashing her sister's hopes, but found it hard to bring up her own. "Well, I'm going to see what I can find for more firewood." she said, tying back her straggled blonde locks of hair with a bit of string.

"Ooo! Pick up some ice-cream, too!" Kara grinned, taking the empty cup back from her grandfather.

This forced a smile onto Tara's face. Without Kara's sense of humor, she doubted any of them would have kept going like they had. "Any particular flavor?"

"Rocky Road!" Mara shouted while Lara sniffed at the joking.

"I'll see what I can find." Tara smiled, walking toward the burned out forest close by.

Kim Possible dragged her feet in the dust and ash that surrounded the encampment that was hidden in a small rocky alcove. She grinned, and pulled a flare gun from the holster on her thigh, shifting her hip to the side as she fired a round into the air. She didn't approach the campsite; that wasn't what she was here for.

A loud pop caught Mara's attention, and she dropped her fire stick. "It's her! She's here!" she shouted with a grin. Kara and Lara looked up to see a tiny bright speck reach into the sky, then begin a quick descent as a plume of smoke followed it back to the ground. "Come on, Grandpa!" she said, taking the elder's hand.

"You take your sisters and go, Mara." he said, staring into the distance. "I'll get my things and wait for Tara." he smiled. It had been so long that he had waited for something good, to no longer be a burden on his grandchildren. He did his best to keep the things he held dear in the same place, so as to know where to find them himself. Mara, Kara, and Lara picked up what supplies they could, eagerly moving to where the flare had originated.

Tara heard the flare pop and looked into the clear sky to see the bright light begin to fade. Instantly, a relieved smile spread across her face. Could it be that Kim really had survived the Diablo War? She dropped the small pile of branches that she had collected in the burned out forest, moving at a full run toward her family's makeshift home. Her few years on the Middleton cheer squad, and running from robots had given her the agility to move through the burned up trees and ash quickly.

Kim Possible was curling her dark red braid around her gloved finger in boredom. She was complaining quietly about the weight of the blue armor plating she wore when three women approached, running excitedly. "You're her, aren't you? Captain Possible?!"

Kim Possible grinned. "Absolutely. Pretty soon, all your troubles and stuff will be over. Nothing but good times to be had by all." she smiled.

Mara squealed with anticipation, moving to put her arms around Kim in a hug. "I knew you'd come! I just knew it!"

Kim held up a hand to stop her, and stepped back from the three women. "Whoa! Personal space!" she said with annoyance. "Just you and your family here?"

"Just our family, yes!" Lara stated before anyone else could, wringing her hands in relief.

Kim breathed an irritated sigh. "Too bad. I'd hoped there'd be more." she said, aiming her flare gun into the sky and firing off another round.

Tara paused at the tree line that bordered on her family's encampment, breathing heavily and kneeling to rest. She could see her three sisters talking to Kim, who was dressed in some kind of blue, high tech armor. "Wait!" she yelled, still trying to catch her breath. The sound of rocket engines blazing overhead drowned her out though, and Tara followed the line of smoke.

Lara, Kara, and Mara huddled together as a man in bulky black and blue armor landed and the rocket thrusters on his back folded inward. His metallic face grinned and he held out an arm toward the three women, and took aim as a projector-like weapon popped out of his forearm.

Kim gave a crooked smile as the three women before her were hit with a wide beam of energy, and were broken down into digital pixels in a scream of agony that ended in an escalating reverberation. Their bodies dematerialized in a stream of particles that seemed to be sucked into the projector. Once the process was complete, the projector folded back into the robot's arm and he stepped closer to Kim.

"Well done, Kim." he said, crossing his arms over his chest.

Kim Possible ran a finger seductively down the chest of the robot and smiled. "Where to next, big guy?" she asked, looking up into his glowing blue eyes.

Tara crouched low in shock and horror, running her shaking hands through her unkempt hair. 'So that's how it had happened.' she thought, feeling nauseous. Kim Possible hadn't lost to a super villain five years ago. She had joined him.

* * *

Kim and her team were skimming above the canopy of the forest in the Kepler, flying silently. They'd heard a few rumors of entire settlements disappearing without any kind of fight. Could people be losing hope already? Kim thought. "Any signal, Wade?" she asked. Wade sat just ahead of her Command Chair, facing the scanning monitors that lined one side of the interior of the Kepler.

"Nothing yet, Kim." Wade responded. He had redesigned the Keplers sensors for more than the astrological data that the shuttle had originally been meant for, adding several capabilities that had only been found in the Kimmunicator before. "Hard to get a good lock on anything while we're running silent." After a few moments of adjusting his settings, he added, "I thought I had spotted something just outside the city a few minutes ago. Might have been a flare, but it didn't last long enough to get a precise location."

"Keep looking." Kim ordered. She was about to inspect her own systems when the cockpit filled with the sound of klaxons.

"Just picked up Erik on the scope!" Wade shouted.

"Has he seen us?" Kim asked, her heart beginning to race. The Kepler had yet to be fully tested in aerial combat, and Kim hoped that the work that Wade and Joss had done to modify it would be enough.

Ron looked out the side window to see Erik flying beside the Kepler with his rockets blazing. Erik looked back at him with a grin and extended an arm, raising his middle finger. Ron turned back to Kim. "He's seen us."

The Kepler shook under the assault that Erik unleashed, tearing across the ship's starboard side as he slowed, falling in behind the Kepler's powerful engines. "Rufus, lock on and keep him busy!" Kim ordered. The mole rat gave a quick salute, dancing across the weapons systems control panel. "Joss, can you give us a clear shot at him?"

"I can try, Kim! But if we get too high, we're going to attract some Diablo attention." Joss replied, banking hard to the right, and nearly clipping the tree tops as another streak of energy zipped past.

"Then keep us low." Kim suggested, as though the course of action should be obvious. Making the Kepler more suited for combat had meant heavier armor that flared out in a wedge shape, reinforcing each engine support in a streamlined arc that began just behind the cockpit view ports. While this meant the modified, high velocity shuttle couldn't quite tear the atmosphere off of the Earth like it used to, it allowed Wade and Joss to fill the extra spaces with weapons systems and maneuvering surfaces. Small, anti missile turrets popped out from each engine housing and rotated to target Erik, filling his path with flak.

"It's a shuttle, Kim! Not a Raptor!" Joss shouted through clenched teeth.

"How'd he even find us out here?!" Wade asked, doing his best to assist Joss's flying with his sensor suite.

"I don't think he did." Kim said. "I think we found him..."

"Then shouldn't we be running?" Ron asked, struggling to stay belted into his seat beside Joss, despite her erratic piloting.

"Not if we can find out why he's here." Kim replied. "Joss?!"

"One second!" Kim's cousin shouted back. She pulled back on the control yoke with one hand and activated the air brakes with the other. Everyone lurched forward as the armor plating on the outside of the Kepler sprang out like a blooming flower, catching the air that had been flowing over the ship's aerodynamic hull.

Erik put his arms out as the Kepler came to a near stop and rose just above him, causing him to bounce erratically across the bottom. He reached out, catching his hands in some of the armor plating that was now jutting out to create drag. The air brakes tore off and Erik continued to tumble past the Kepler, firing a hail of energy bolts into the ship's now exposed hull.

As sparks began to shower the Kepler's occupants, Kim turned back to Rufus. "Fire!"

Rufus chirped an affirmative that was quickly translated by his console. In order to keep the Kepler as fast and stealthy as possible, its weapons systems were all designed to be retractable and two racks of missiles dropped from the shuttle's underbelly, instantly firing the moment they cleared the Kepler.

"We're stalling, Kim! I need to re-engage the engines!" Joss shouted as the shuttle began to level out.

"Just a few more seconds..." Kim said under her breath. The moment Erik had spotted the incoming projectiles, he had engaged his thrusters again, taking to a vertical flight path. As Erik fired his arm cannons, Kim counted as each missile was destroyed. "One... Two... Three..." until suddenly the fourth connected with it's target. "Re-engage!"

Joss struggled to pull the Kepler out of the burned canopy of trees, the Kepler's engines reigniting as she pumped the ignition lever. The snapping and scraping of wood along the bottom of the ship could be heard as it dipped below the canopy. "Getting a loss of control here, Kim!"

"Up... we should be going up..." Ron said from beside her, bracing his hands on the frame of the cockpit around him.

"I know, I know!" Joss replied. Ron's high pitched screams began to fill the cramped space before the Kepler finally began to pull away from the ground. "We're gonna have to find a place to sit, or we'll be leavin' a trail of smoke and scrap all the way home."

"Erik did a number on our systems, Kim." Wade said. "But he is definitely no longer in the sky."

"Good." Kim said with a smile. "But I doubt we'll have much time before he's up and running again. Find a place to land, Joss... and good job, people. " she smiled.

* * *

Erik's view fizzled with static for a few minutes before focusing on his surroundings. He was lying on his chest in the dirt and as he tried to push himself up, he found that one arm was missing from the elbow down and his opposite foot was also nowhere in sight. His joints creaked as he moved and shooting jolts of what could only be described as pain shot through him from his back. The missile had gone right for his thrusters. He grinned at the irony at having been shot down by such an archaic targeting system as 'heat seeking'.

"Erik?" Drakken asked into the air as a young woman entered his throne room.

"Yes... Father?" Erik struggled to speak, his vocalizer taking on bursts of static.

"Report your status." Drakken ordered as the red haired woman that now stood off to the side, dressed in blue and silver armor, sighed with boredom.

"Regeneration... commencing... Father." Erik replied before his remaining arm began to shake, and gave up its strength, dropping him back to the ground.

Drakken ground his metallic teeth together before turning his attention to the woman that had entered his throne room. "Well now... if it isn't Kim Possible." he laughed, standing from his chair and walking over to the woman.

"Y'know, it's bad enough I have to pose as that loser out there." she said, pulling the red wig off of her head, exposing her short, natural brunette colored hair.

"Of course, Ms. Rockwaller." Drakken grinned. "It'll be a few hours until your next assignment since Erik has been... delayed. Come." he said, opening the blast door that allowed access to his throne room with a thought. "Walk with me. Talk with me."

Bonnie walked beside Drakken as he spoke. Sure, the guy was mostly made of Black and Decker now, had blue skin where he had any at all, and was like, twice her age. But he also ruled the world, which was at least ten times more important than High School. Life was all about the food chain, now more than ever, and Bonnie had worked hard to get to be Drakken's favorite. Why Kim had chosen the losing side, she'll never know. "Kim always was a loser." she said in response to whatever Drakken was saying.

Lord Drakken stopped and smiled, putting his mechanical arm around Bonnie's shoulders like he always did when she said that. "I knew you had the potential for evil the moment I saw you." he commented, guiding her down the dimly lit hallway that was lined with synthodrones.

"Oh, you!" Bonnie giggled.

"But just keep in mind that as you impersonate Kim Possible, you will undoubtedly come across her allies." Drakken said.

"Whatever." Bonnie said, waving the concern away. "All of her friends are losers anyway." she continued, inspecting her fingernails.

Drakken gave a small grin "That armor suits you." he said, casting his real eye on Bonnie's figure. "If I didn't know better, I'd say you were Possible herself."

"Ugh..." Bonnie said, rolling her eyes. "Oh, wait... was that like an insult or a compliment?" Drakken narrowed his eye at her in irritation. "I mean... did... did you know her?" she asked nervously.

"Oh yes..." Drakken stated cooly. "Her and her sidekick, and the rodent, and her family, and..." he began to rant quietly, clenching his mechanical hand into a fist.

"Okay, I've got this thing to do... at the place... and... I should go do that." Bonnie said, replacing her wig as she stepped into an elevator that had just opened.

* * *

"Torque wrench?" Wade called from beneath the Kepler. His hand was jutting out, waiting for the tool to be handed to him by Ron, who stood beside the toolbox. Ron gently eased his still healing arm off of where he was resting it and stared confused at the tray before him. He looked at the naked mole rat perched on his shoulder, but Rufus only shrugged. Wade could be heard sighing. "Doohickey number four."

Ron's face brightened as he handed the correct tool down to Wade. "Here ya go, Wade." They had come up with a mutual code for tools so that Ron could help with the repairs of various systems. The sound of a skyscooter revving caught Ron's attention and he turned to see Kim in her battle suit and straddling one of the flying bikes. "Kim?

"Just going to have a look around for a bit." she said. "Since you four are having so much fun."

"Did you want me to come with?" Ron asked, eyeing the skyscooter with a grin.

Kim shook her head, smiling. "Take it easy, Ron. I'm going to need you at a hundred percent next time we have to face Erik."

Ron suddenly blushed, moving awkwardly. "Need me? Sure. Ya. Y'know. You can count on me, KP. Be careful."

Kim looked back at him with confusion and raised her eyebrows. "Sure... I'll be back in a bit." The skyscooter revved again, rising into the air slowly until the landing struts folded back and Kim engaged the main thruster.

Ron frowned as he watched Kim fly away, skimming low towards the nearby city. "Don't worry, Ron." Joss said from behind him as she descended the steps out of the Kepler. "Kim just needs some time to sort through some things."

"What kinds of things?" Ron asked. He had known Kim for forever it seemed, but these last few years she had seemed to turn inward. "I mean, she never used to leave me behind on missions before."

Rufus patted his friend on the ear in sympathy as Joss put a hand on Ron's shoulder. "You know Kim. She puts the world on her shoulders, knowing you'll be there to put her back on her feet if it gets her down."

"I guess." Ron replied. "She just doesn't seem like the same Kim, y'know?"

Wade slid out from beneath the Kepler to grab a spare part. "The last guy she dated turned out to be an indestructible machine capable of wiping out half of humanity." he said, touching his chin in thought. "Unless you count Mankey..." he added before sliding back underneath the ship.

Joss rolled her eyes. "Oh yeah, there's some damaged goods. Face it Ron, you're the only guy she's come across that hasn't tried to kill her."

"Sooo..." Ron said in confusion. Joss waited for him to continue his sentence, then gave an exasperated sigh, stepping back into the Kepler. Ron squatted down at Wade's feet, asking, "You know what's going on with Joss and Kim, Wade?"

"I've spent most of my life in my room, Ron. What makes you think I understand women? Hand me thingamabob number one, would ya?" Ron stood up and handed Wade the correct tool, his mind beginning to wander.

* * *

Tara had heard an explosion in the distance as her and her grandfather entered the city. For the most part, they had left behind most of their possessions at the encampment and trudged into the urban center for a place to hide. Rumors of looters and marauders living in amongst the city ruins had kept their family living only on the outskirts, but now with Lara, Kara, and Mara gone, they didn't seem to have a choice. Tara was feeling rage in her heart, overriding the fear and loss she had felt for the last few years. That was something that she had grown accustomed to. But the anger that she was feeling now for someone she had thought was an old friend; someone that she had deep down, been hoping would come to save the world again, was something she had never experienced before. She had made up her mind, and even as she and her grandfather came across more people within the city that had lost friends and family to Kim Possible, she whispered to herself that she would put an end to the ex-heroine.

Now, Tara sat alone with a pair of old binoculars that she had found, watching the sky. She had left her grandfather with the people they had met in the city, hoping that they wouldn't betray her trust. The glint of the sun off of something metal flying over the city caught her eye and she peered through the binoculars. It was Kim, alright. Wearing the same suit of blue and silver armor she had been wearing earlier and riding what looked like a flying motorcycle. Tara frowned, closed her eyes, and held up a piece of shiny metal to reflect light into the sky.

Kim smiled to herself as she felt the wind pass through her hair and around her bare midriff. Despite the thruster of the skyscooter, it felt quiet. She tried to ignore the devastation she was passing over; trying to remember being back in Middleton before Drakken took over. But despite her best attempts, the fact that she was wearing armor built to withstand bolts of high yield energy and looking for survivors couldn't escape her.

She wound through the skeletons of skyscrapers that were managing to still be standing, moving slowly as she watched the streets filled with burned out cars for signs of life. Performing a barrel roll through the 'O' of the Hollywood sign, she forced the skyscooter to skim down the hill until a glint of light caught her attention. "I might have something." she said into her comm unit. "I'm going to check it out."

"Gotchya on the scope, Cuz. Be careful." came Joss's reply.

"Will do." Kim said, bringing the skyscooter down into the streets below. The moment the landing struts unfolded and settled on the pavement, Kim was dismounted with her pistol drawn. She allowed her heads up display to highlight likely ambush locations as she scanned the area before stepping too far away from her vehicle, and she made her way toward where the light had been coming from.

Without warning, the clatter of a piece of metal being pushed over spun Kim around and a human woman bolted from the area. "Wait!" she shouted, running after the figure. She holstered her weapon and activated her myonetic components of her battle suit to move her faster than she'd normally be able to, flinging herself forward and over head, twisting in mid flight to land face to face with the woman. "Whoa."

The woman skidded to a stop and fell back. "Get away from me, Clanker!"

Kim's eyes widened at the sound of the familiar voice. "Tara?!" Kim asked in surprise. "Is that you?"

"Get away from me!" Tara shouted again, scrambling away.

"Wait..." Kim said, crouching. The ex-Mad Dog cheerleader was filthy with her platinum blonde hair now a dull yellow that was tied back into a matted ponytail. Torn jeans and taped on running shoes were a far cry from the capris she used to wear, and a cracked leather jacket over a dirty white tank top were probably all the clothing she had to her name. "Tara, it's me. It's Kim Possible." she smiled.

"Don't play me, Clanker! You're just like the other guy!" Tara shouted.

"Erik?" Kim asked. She looked down at herself, realizing the battle suit she was wearing could easily maker her look like a synthomech, since no one other than Drakken had much for technology anymore. "No... just a sec." she said. She touched the GJ symbol on her collar and the battle suit vanished in a flash of light, being replaced by her black Global Justice uniform. "See?" Kim smiled, and Tara seemed to ease slightly. "I'm still human."

"Clanker!" Tara suddenly cried, pointing past Kim. As Kim spun, her hand automatically clearing her pistol from her holster, Tara gripped a steel pipe in her hand. With her heart pounding heavily in her chest, she seemed to go on autopilot, swinging the weapon across the back of Kim's head.

Tara felt like she was ready to vomit, looking down at Kim's unconscious form. "I know you're still human, Kim. That's what makes what you did so much worse."

* * *

Kim woke up with a pounding headache and a tingling sensation in her arms. For a few minutes, her vision was blurry and the voices around her were muffled, as though hearing them through cotton. "The dame's wakin' up." someone said in a New Jersey accent.

"Where... where's Tara?" Kim asked, trying to focus on the half dozen different forms in the room. She tugged on the bindings that were holding her arms up above her head, chained and welded to a steel girder.

"Why?" Tara asked, stepping forward. "So you can finish what you started with my sisters?" she asked. Hate and malice were evident in her voice; things that Kim had never heard from Tara before.

"What?" Kim asked, confused. "Tara, it's me. Kim. We were on the same cheer squad together!"

"I know it's you, Kim." Tara said angrily. "Everyone always wondered what happened to you when you and Ron left the Prom. Imagine my surprise when I see you and that... thing. Erik. You were together. And you took my family!" she yelled, charging Kim. Tara's dirty hands were nearly at Kim's throat before three men grabbed her and dragged her back.

"Look, obviously one of Drakken's people is impersonating me, Tara." Kim said calmly. "If you let me go, I can prove it."

"I'll bet." Tara replied, pushing the three men away. "And what's to stop you from throwing your armor back on when we do, huh? Or calling your robot buddy?" She swept some electronic parts off of a small table that an elderly man was sitting at and Kim instantly recognized them as Kimmunicator components. "This, maybe?" Tara frowned, dropping the pieces onto the floor and crushing them under her foot. "And don't worry, your bike's been scattered amongst several families in the area. It won't make up for what you took from them, but it'll be a start."

Realizing she couldn't convince Tara of her innocence by arguing, Kim forced herself to calm down and try to find out what she had planned. "So what next, Tara? You going to kill me?"

Tara seemed to hesitate for a moment before speaking. "Not yet. We're still better than that out here. We'll give you a trial first. Just like Judge Judy. Then we'll kill you."

Kim rolled her eyes. "Great." she said dryly.

* * *

"Kim's been gone too long." Ron said, leaning against the Kepler and watching the sky. Rufus nodded in agreement from his place on Ron's shoulder. It wouldn't be much longer before Erik came searching for them again.

Joss frowned, picking up the tools that had been scattered around the ship. "Maybe she just needs some more time alone."

"Don't think so." Wade said, coming out of the Kepler. "Can't raise her on any of the channels, or get a trace on her Kimmunicator or skyscooter. It's like she just fell off the face of the Earth."

"Okay. Rufus and I will have a look around. You two..." Ron began.

"No way!" Joss argued. "She's my cousin, I should get to go look for her!"

Ron threw his arms into the air in irritation. "Oh! What is with you Possible women? Does the rank of Major mean nothing to any of you?!" Joss and Wade looked at each other with bored eyes, as Ron continued his rant. "I mean, I know Kim and I got our ranks mixed up when Will Du was ordered to put us into the GJ database with honorary titles, but..." Ron trailed off as two skyscooters tore away from the Kepler with Joss and Wade riding them. "Aw, come on!"

* * *

Kim had hung by her arms for the last hour, listening intently as Tara tried to convince her new friends of Kim's guilt. Apparently, whoever had been impersonating her had done a good job of not leaving any real witnesses. Tara had been lucky.

"Grandpa, you were there. You heard her, right?" Tara asked the elderly man. The way he stared past his granddaughter was a sure sign he was blind, and Kim frowned, realizing just how much Tara had lost over the years.

"I can't be sure. The voice... her voice sounded the same. But I can't... Tara, don't make a mistake." Tara's grandfather said.

Tara tried to speak, but choked. She waited a moment, squeezing her grandfather's hands in hers. "Then it's on me, and I know what I saw." she said, turning back to Kim. "Jilly, watch her. We'll take our vote outside." she added, leading the others outside. "But don't get too close."

Jilly gave two thumbs up, sending a grin toward Tara as she and the others left. "A-ringa-ding-ding!"

"So... Jilly, is it? Hang out here often?" Kim asked with a smile. As the door closed behind Tara, Kim eyed the chair that Tara's grandfather had been sitting in and tried to judge its distance and her reach. Jilly was holding her energy pistol, and without her armor, Kim knew she would be cooked instantly.

"Hey chicky-baby. No tricks, see?" Jilly told her, brandishing the pistol.

"So not the drama." Kim retorted. She kicked her legs forward, hooking her foot on the back of the chair and dragging it back to support her weight on one of the legs. Jilly panicked, firing a shot at Kim's midsection that she managed to dodge by pivoting on the chair. She then gave the chair a spin and sent it flying just over Jilly's head and rebounding off of the wall behind him, knocking him forward.

Before he could fire another shot, Kim kicked the weapon from his grip and hooked a leg around his neck, squeezing while he struggled for air. It only took a few moments before he slumped to the floor. Kim then lifted herself straight up, using the chains that bound her wrists as the door opened. The first man through charged at her, and was knocked back as Kim swept a kick across his face.

Tara was the only one to side step the man as he was flung back through the door, and she spotted Kim's pistol on the floor. Struggling, Kim stretched a finger to the GJ symbol on her collar as Tara lifted the weapon and aimed. She pulled the trigger, turning away from the bright lightning flash of Kim's battle suit activating and fired over her head as Kim dropped to the floor. The bonds that had held Kim immobilized had sprung as the armor covered her, and Tara fired another shot into Kim's chest, resulting in a spray of sparks.

Kim wasn't fazed, and as each of Tara's new friends came at her with various improvised weapons, she calmly blocked each one, knocking them down and away so she could get closer to Tara. Soon, fear was replacing Tara's rage as Kim got closer and her fire became more erratic until Kim deflected a shot with her bracer, sending it into the ceiling, and she snatched the weapon away with her other hand. "Go ahead, Kim." Tara said, sliding down the corner of the wall. "Finish the job." Her eyes were full of tears and she wrapped her arms around her knees.

"I'm not here to kill you, and I wasn't here to hurt you." she said, looking over to see Tara's grandfather feel his way into the room. She tipped up the chair she had kicked earlier and guided the man to it before continuing. "But now I need your help, Tara. I want whoever is doing this as much as you do." she said, squatting down in front of the blonde. "I need to know what happened."

* * *

Bonnie was sweltering in the old California heat, dressed in the ridiculous armor and red braided wig. But still, this would be her biggest grab yet and Drakken promised rewards beyond her imagining afterward. She grinned, drawing her flare gun and firing a round into the air.

After a few moments of inspecting her fingernails, Bonnie replaced her glove and narrowed her eyes at the surrounding ruins of the city. "Hey!" she shouted. "Where is everyone?! Captain Possible's here!"

The creaking of a door in a still intact underground parking garage caught her attention and she walked calmly over and into the dim light. Bonnie let out an annoyed growl as a door closed further in, and she proceeded with a light jog. "I can't wait forever, people! You want a new life, you're going to have to come and get it!" Climbing a staircase, Bonnie burst into the next level of the parking lot. "Come on!" she whined, looking around the empty space. "Kim Possible's here to help you!"

"Finally some truth comes out." Kim Possible said, walking out from behind a pillar. Bonnie flinched at Kim's voice, nearly leaping backward as she drew her flare gun and fired. Kim held her ground and raised a hand, catching the flare in her palm and closing her hand around it until it smoldered. "That's some nice armor. Too bad it's not the real thing." Kim grinned. "You're going to need it."

"We'll see." Bonnie said with an evil smile, aiming for another shot with her flare gun. Before she could pull the trigger, Kim drew and fired her own pistol, catching Bonnie in the chest and burning a hole through the breast plate, knocking her back and onto the floor. She yelled in pain, tearing the smoking breastplate off and flipping onto her stomach. "This is Bonnie." she whispered into her comm unit. "I have Kim Possible here! Send reinforcements!" She could hear Kim running up behind her and Bonnie lunged forward in an attempt to stay out of Kim's hands.

Kim reached out, closing her hand around the red braid that trailed behind and pulled the wig from Bonnie's head, exposing her short brown hair. "Bonnie?!" she said in surprise. "What are you..."

Bonnie spun around, flashing a grin as more than a dozen synthodrones filed in, kneeling as a firing squad between Kim and Bonnie. "As usual, K, I have more friends."

"As usual, B, you made the wrong ones." Kim retorted.

Bonnie clenched her teeth in anger. "Whatever. Kill her!"

Each synthodrone opened fire and Kim crouched and leaped from pillar to pillar, deflecting the odd shot off of her pauldrons and thigh plating, making pinpoint shots in midflight, dropping the outer most synthodrones before landing in the middle of them.

Bonnie was watching in a panic as Kim calmly went from synthodrone to synthodrone, blocking every punch, dodging every blast, and collapsing every single one as though they were made for her entertainment and exercise. It was less than a minute and her reinforcements were nothing more than deflated bags of yellow goo, lying on the floor. Kim was standing in the only space free of synthogoo, ready to defend herself from any other attackers. "Don't come near me, Kim!" Bonnie cried, stumbling backward. "I'm Drakken's favorite! He'll hunt you down if you hurt me!" she shouted, turning to run as Kim leveled her pistol. The grapple head flew out from the launcher below the barrel of her energy pistol, latching onto Bonnie's belt and knocking her to the floor.

She began clawing at the concrete pad of the parking garage as Kim reeled in the grapple line. "Payback time, Bonnie!" Kim lifted Bonnie to her feet by the collar, throwing her face first against a pillar and breaking the targeting reticle Bonnie wore over her eye.

Kim was angry. Every wrong that Bonnie had done to her in school came flooding back. Every family; every person Bonnie had used her name to lure to Drakken fueled her rage and she found she wasn't even bothering to use her Kung Fu. Her blood felt as though it was boiling and her vision became dark and red until she found herself holding Bonnie's neck in one hand with her other fist drawn back, prepared for a death strike with her myonetics humming.

Bonnie was bordering on unconsciousness, trying to breath past Kim's clenching hand as she attempted fruitlessly to push Kim away. As Kim noticed Bonnie's skin beginning to turn pale with suffocation, she eased her grip around the other woman's throat. "I made a promise a long time ago that I'd never take a life, Bonnie." Kim said, standing Bonnie up. "You almost made me forget that." she continued, giving Bonnie a nudge to get her moving. "Almost."

* * *

"What are we going to do with her, Kim?" Joss asked. Kim, Joss, and Wade were on one side of Bonnie while Tara and her friends stood on the other. While Bonnie stared at the floor of the small building where Kim had been held earlier, Tara stared at Bonnie. So far, Tara hadn't even touched her or spoken to her. Kim remembered that the two had been relatively close in school, with Tara following the more popular girl everywhere. They had been friends then.

"We'll get rid of her." said one of the men in Tara's group. "Just like in my action flick, No Holds Barred Four!"

Kim shook her head. "I can't allow that."

"Easy, Jimmy." Tara finally said. "I've got another idea. With no killing. A better one." she paused, shivering as though it had just dropped ten degrees in the room. "A worse one."

* * *

Bonnie cried. She was bound and gagged, dressed in clothing meant for a peasant and forced into the desolate street of a city that used to be America's shining jewel. She heard the flare gun go off twice, and knew what would be coming next. It turned out that all of her power plays throughout her life had now been for nothing. She slid against the wall of a nearby building, trying to knock the flamboyant hat that the annoying poser from New Jersey had been wearing, but Tara had made certain that it was secured beneath her jaw.

"Say hello to my sisters." Tara had whispered with a hug and a tear and instantly the blood flushed from Bonnie face. How could she have known they were Tara's family?

The familiar sound of high powered rocket engines began to pass overhead and Bonnie tried to scream her name as Erik landed. The gag kept her from saying anything intelligible that didn't sound like fearful whimpers and she looked up into the machine's eyes. But from the grin on his face as the digitization ray popped out of his forearm, Bonnie could tell that either he didn't recognize her, or didn't care.

Kim stepped out of the building that her and the others had been in and stood in front of Erik. She felt cold, knowing what had just happened to Bonnie. The alternative sentence that Tara had ordered on her old friend wasn't something Kim would wish on anyone, but they were right. Wherever Drakken put Bonnie was the best prison available in the world now and Kim had to believe that she could free all of the innocent people that Drakken had ordered digitized.

Erik smiled as his digitization ray retracted and he turned to face Kim, crossing his arms over his chest. "Lord Drakken demands a minimum of five organics." he said. "Where are the others?"

"Tell Drakken he can suck a lemon." Kim replied, clearing her pistol. She had adjusted the feed on her weapon, allowing it to siphon power directly from her battle suit.

"Possible!" he shouted. Kim's first shot caught him in the shoulder, throwing off his aim and resulting in an explosion that shook the building next to her as one of his arm cannons fired. Each shot landed on Erik's frame, knocking him from side to side and peeling bits of metal off of his shell. In her ear, Kim could hear her battle suit's warning, listing the steadily lowering power level with each shot. The left side of Erik's face vaporized with a series of hits and he turned away, unfolding his rockets and launching into the air.

"Power level critical." came the battle suit's last warning. Kim locked onto Erik's thrusters with her reticle and fired her last shot before her armor lost power and disappeared. One engine blew off and Erik began to spiral into the distance, leaving a trail of smoke in his wake.

"I reckon he'll be remembering that for awhile." Joss said as she and Wade exited the building.

"Did you really have to get so close, Kim?" Wade asked.

"Maybe not." Kim admitted, watching Erik's trail dissipate into the sunset.

"Felt good though, didn't it?" Joss grinned.

"Oh yeah." Kim smiled. "We'd better get back to Ron before he tries picking us up in the Kepler. You're all welcome to come with us, Tara." Kim said. "We can take you somewhere safer. For real."

"The passages aren't quite as clean and tidy as what Bonnie was promising." Wade said. "But it is better than here."

"And I'm sure Josh would like to see a familiar face." Kim added when it looked as though Tara might object.

"Josh Mankey?!" Tara exclaimed, her smile and features revealing a relieved, fond memory.

* * *

"You're sure that you're carrying the Rockwaller girl?" Drakken asked as Erik stood before him. Erik nodded, unable to speak until his vocabulator regenerated. "Too bad..." he added, clasping his hands behind his cape. "Very well, it seems that the gig is up, then." Drakken continued, waving Erik away. "Give her to Hephaestus. She's of no further use to me outside of storage." As Erik left his throne room, Drakken looked up at the hologram that hovered before him. They were a collection of images of various synthomech designs that Hephaestus was capable of. He sighed, struggling to recall his own memories that were devoid of the artificial intelligence's influence.

With the Rockwaller girl out of the picture, he would need a new plot to destroy Kim Possible specifically. Erik was an excellent weapon, one that had served him well over the years and made his victory of Kim possible. He swept his mechanical hand over the image, rotating it to get a clear picture of all the images. "I need something elegant, Hephaestus." Erik served as an image to remind Kim of her capacity to make wrong decisions. He needed something that could devour her spirit. To remind her that she could, indeed, be defeated. "Ah..." he said, his grin reaching nearly to his ears in unexpected surprise as Hephaestus did a system wide search, showing him a dossier on one of the occupants of Hephaestus's databanks. "Perfect." he said, closing the hologram and filling his throne room with evil laughter.

* * *

**A special thanks once again to Neo the Saiyan Angel for the grammar corrections and help with plot development.**


	6. The Ferryman

**The Ferryman**

It was the dead of night. A time that humanity used to sleep for hours on end. It used to be a time for people to rest, but as a DoomVee crawled slowly through the rubble of a now unrecognizable city, surrounded by synthodrones, there was never any rest for the people that they hunted.

"Whoa, there!" shouted a man as he stepped out in front of the DoomVee. The vehicle lurched to a stop and a dozen red spots appeared on the man as each synthodrone leveled their rifles at him. "Ah, ah..." the man grinned. "I'm reckon I be the one that'll be tellin' ya where the hero be, yep? A real can do anything type, goes by the name Possible?" The man seemed to be either suffering from insomnia, drunkenness, insanity, or all three. He stroked his greasy sideburns and winked his remaining eye at the collection of synthodrones, his other one covered by a patch.

An armored hatch flipped open and another synthodrone in black and fluorescent green popped out and glared at the man with glowing yellow eyes. "If you know the location of Kim Possible, you will divulge this information now!"

The man cowered for a moment before grinning. "You're a big one, ain't ya? I reckon you're at least a niner, yep?" the man said. "An important one. I knew you be the one, yep. A bargain to be made?"

"The only bargain to be made is your information for your continued survival!" the synthodrone said. The sounds of multiple capacitors charging amongst the synthodrone's rifles filled the night air and the man cowered again.

"Yep, yep. You're a shrewd one. Very well... Kim's Possible's crew..." he said, pointing to his right. "Are over there." The synthodrones all turned in unison to follow the man's gaze. "And over there..." he continued, pointing to his left, causing the synthodrones to turn the other direction. "And there's one more... right here." he said. Wade's holographic disguise fizzled and dissolved as he drew his pistol and fired, the two synthodrones nearest to him popping, their synthogoo draining onto the ground.

Joss had been lining up the higher ranking synthodrone in her rifle scope the moment it peeked it's upper torso out of the hatch. As Wade's disguise vanished, she squeezed the trigger and a streak of ionized magnetic particles shot from the rifle's barrel.

Synthodrone nine eight five leveled it's pistol at the armored soldier in front of the DoomVee. "Run him do..." it started to shout to the driver before a bright white, tangled beam of energy from a kilometer away struck it in the chest. Instead of popping however, the synthodrone twitched as white bolts of electricity engulfed it and it slumped over the ring of the access hatch it was standing in. The engine of the DoomVee revved and its tires squealed as the driver pinned the accelerator to the floor.

Kim and Rufus shot into the last few synthodrones as Wade tried to scramble out of the way of the accelerating DoomVee. "Ron!" Kim shouted, changing the head of her grapple to a grabber mechanism. Ron dived in front of the DoomVee with his aura blazing a bright blue. With one hand on the bumper and the other on the armored hood, his aura extended around the vehicle. Kim fired her grapple at the disabled synthodrone as Ron lifted the vehicle overhead. The grabber head latched on to the synthodrone's armor and pulled it free from the DoomVee's top ring as Ron brought it crashing down on its roof.

Wade smiled through his tinted face plate, taking the hand that Ron offered. "Thanks, Ron."

"Wade, grab the synthogoo." Kim ordered. "Rufus, cover him while Ron and I clear a path back to the Kepler."

"Got your back, KP." Ron answered.

"Sure! Stick us with the hard job." Wade commented, watching as Kim and Ron began the trek back to the Kepler. Rufus dragged the green and black synthodrone back beside the ruined DoomVee and Wade extended a nozzle from the empty vat he was carrying as a back pack.

"We're about to have company." Rufus said in his emotionless, electronic voice. Alarms had begun to sound throughout the city streets and he peeked around the upside down DoomVee to see multiple squads of synthodrones running toward them.

"Gimmee a minute!" Wade replied, slapping a rubber sealant onto the synthodrone's chest and inserting the nozzle. The transparent nozzle began to fill with the thick, yellow substance.

"Fine. One minute." Rufus said. "That's it." An energy shot struck the DoomVee and Rufus stepped out from behind the armored vehicle. Rufus himself sat in the cockpit of the robot body with his paws on the controls. The heads up display that was projected around him gave him a full three sixty degree view, highlighting targets and giving their respective ranges and speeds. A loud hum began to rise from his robot body's hip mounted energy cannon as he held the trigger. A brilliant blue spark of energy formed at the barrel of the cannon and Rufus waited until the temperature meter of his fusion pack peaked before letting the trigger go, firing a bright white beam that lit up the night. The explosion erupted in amongst a dozen charging synthodrones, flinging them in every direction as the shockwave hit. Walking nonchalantly past Wade and to the other end of the DoomVee, Rufus commented, "Do I have to do everything?"

A slurping sound came from the nozzle as the synthodrone deflated. "It's plugged!" Wade shouted in frustration, adjusting the nozzle.

Rufus took a shot to the chest and leaned into it, strafing a steady beam across a squad of approaching synthodrones. There was the hum of a hover tank coming down the street from the other side of the DoomVee. "You doing lyposuction?" he asked as he passed by Wade again, loading an explosive round into the launcher mounted beneath his energy cannon.

"Just a few more seconds!" Wade replied as the husk of the synthodrone became nothing more than a vacuum sealed bag.

Rufus watched as the hover tank swivelled its gauss cannon to target the turned over DoomVee. Rufus zoomed in his heads up display and targeted the point that the turret met the main body of the tank. With a loud thunk, the explosive warhead launched at hyper velocity, burrowing into the hull of the armored vehicle before exploding into a fireball. "I don't mean to rush you, but..."

"Got it!" Wade announced, hefting the now full vat of super compressed synthogoo as he stood.

"Good." Rufus said, spinning his robot body to follow Wade back to the Kepler. The sky was beginning to spark with green energy and thunder began to roll, drowning out the sound of weapons fire. "That's not good."

The engines of the Kepler were already warm and Wade rushed inside, deactivating his suit and slinging the suddenly incredibly heavy vat to the side of his station. Rufus turned, backing up the stairs of the Kepler as he returned fire against the synthodrones that were continuing to chase them. Heavy thuds resounded across the Kepler's hull and the doorway closed, allowing Rufus to touch the GJ symbol on his collar, causing the heavily armored robot body to dissipate into energy. He leapt down to his weapons station, ready for what was coming.

"Saw some Diablo activity out there, Kim." Wade said, belting in.

"Joss, we need to jet! Now!" Kim shouted.

The Kepler rose into the air, the clouds above beginning to part as the massive red and black form of a Diablo dropped from above the cloud canopy, firing bursts of green plasma. "We need altitude to engage the quantum drive, Kim!" Joss shouted back, banking the ship left and right and watching the streaks of plasma fly by.

The Diablo converted one of its plasma cannons into a grasping claw and reached out, clutching the dorsal engine of the Kepler. The machine's other plasma cannon converted into a shining, gold circular saw and it reached forward, beginning to cut into the armor plating that protected the engine strut. "Rufus, get that thing off my ship!" Kim ordered as the piercing shriek of metal cutting metal rang through the cockpit.

The point defense cannons popped out of the engine housings, focusing on the Diablo's shoulder and tearing away at the black and red plating. The Diablo was unfazed, and continued slashing at the Kepler with its circular saw. "It's still on, Kim!" Wade said.

"Can we engage the quantum drive?" Kim asked, trying to ignore the groans of metal beginning to echo through the inside of the cockpit.

"With the Diablo attached, one of us won't be making it home in one piece." Joss answered.

"I'm not about to let some relic of Drakken's keep us from getting this synthogoo home. Punch it!" Kim said, hoping that her Dad's analysis of the longevity of the cybertronic technology was accurate.

A shimmering field enveloped the Kepler and the engines began to roar. The central afterburner located at the rear of the main fuselage began to glow, then exploded in a jet of flame as the Kepler leapt forward. The tops of buildings and burned away trees were torn away as it passed, and a line was drawn in the cloud cover above, letting the moonlight shine like a spot light on the surface of the Earth. The Diablo began to drift towards the ground. Its grasping claw was missing, as was most of its armor plating. The light in its eyes flickered and died, and it began to dig a deep gouge into the city scape before shattering into a million lifeless cybertronic particles.

Within a few minutes, the Kepler was across the continent and Joss slowed the quantum drive until they reached cruising speed. "Looks like we've still got some extra mass." Joss said, checking her readings.

"Ron?" Kim asked. "Mind..."

Ron rolled his eyes, spinning his chair to face Kim. "No way. I am not going out there." he said, looking back at Kim. Kim pushed her bottom lip out and rose her eyebrows.

"You know Drakken can track any pieces, Ron." Wade commented.

Ron was ignoring him though, instead focusing on Kim's pouty lips. "I'll bet Will Du never had to worry about the Director's puppy dog pout." he said under his breath as he unbuckled and walked past Wade, Kim, and Rufus to a cylindrical elevator.

"Please and thank you!" Kim said with a smile as he passed.

The elevator door swivelled closed and an iris opened above him as Ron ascended. His brilliant blue aura spread over his body and he stepped out onto the hull of the Kepler, looking up to see the Diablo's grasping claw still clasping the dorsal engine strut. "Shouldn't that have shrunk down or something?" he asked himself aloud. The wind continued to blow his short blond hair around and he crouched down to all fours, moving slowly toward the rear of the ship. "They could have at least stopped for me." he complained, reaching up to the gold claw. He straddled the dorsal engine strut, slowly slinking up its length until he could manage to grab the claw in both hands. His aura began to blaze as he struggled to open the pincers. With a loud groan, the grasping claw opened and fell back, spinning in the air before striking the ground.

Ron looked down the engine strut, looking for an easier way back into the Kepler than the one he had just taken, and sighed. Sliding his way back down the engine strut, he crawled back to the iris and punched in the code to open it.

"How'd it go, Ron?" Kim asked as she heard him step out of the elevator. He didn't answer, and Kim's eyes widened when he walked by, bow-legged.

He sat down in his co pilot seat next to Joss, who was stifling a laugh. "Not a word." he said to her, buckling himself in. "Probably gonna need new underwear after that." he whispered to himself.

* * *

Lord Drakken stood before his highest ranking human subjects, awash in their adoration. While it may be lonely at the top, it was immensely comforting to look down upon the rest of the world. "The New World Order is upon us!" he shouted, the electronic vocal chords enhancing his voice to a booming echo in the room. "So, you who are the most loyal, the most dedicated, will be granted the gift of immortality in a new, gleaming, immortal world!" He could hear the words of the speech being fed to him from Hephaestus as though they were his own thoughts. The AI had gifted him with a life past his near death at the hands of James Possible, and granted him a confidence and charisma that he could possibly never have attained on his own. A dozen synthodrones stood around him, and Erik stood off to the side, a symbol of what waited for the people that stood at attention beyond the stage in front of him. "With your strength and your minds, we will build a new future; a new world; a New Order!" A mass of cheers erupted from the hundreds of followers and Drakken grinned, spreading his arms out to either side to accept the applause.

As the crowd continued to cheer, Erik and the synthodrones escorted Drakken back into the fortress of BN Headquarters' halls. "Excuse me, Lord Drakken?" came a squeaky voice from the shadowy hall that Drakken stepped into. The man was lanky, but wore his uniform cleanly and confidently. Drakken looked at him with false recognition. "Hank Perkins." the man said, taking Drakken's hand in his with a firm shake. "Hi! We've met before."

"Perkins?" Drakken asked. The verbal cue brought up the man's history and complete profile in Drakken's mind as Hephaestus transmitted all relevant data. "Ah yes. The temp who filled in to assist Killigan once. You work for me?" Drakken asked, pulling his gloved hand back and wiping it on his cape.

"Well, I don't get a pay check, if that's what you mean..." Hank said. "But your benefits package is the best on the planet!"

"That's because it's the only one left on the planet." Drakken stated cooly. "Now what do you want?"

"Well sir, it seems that Captain Possible and her renegades have captured a drone's synthetic gelatin data matrix." Hank explained, speaking in a clear and energetic tone.

Drakken's remaining natural eye twitched a few times, but he kept his composure. "What was its designation?"

"Synthodrone Nine Eight Five, sir. It was assigned to the Charon program." Hank said, beginning to walk down the hall with Drakken as Erik and the other synthodrones kept pace behind them.

"How much information did it have?" Drakken asked.

"We're trying to find that out, but as you know, when a synthodrone is removed from the network, it can be difficult to ascertain why information it had." Hank continued.

Drakken looked away for a moment, searching for the missing data matrix himself. Unfortunately, Hank was right. "Of course... I want a full report on the missing information, as well as the synthodrone's destruct signal within the hour."

"Will do, sir!" Hank said excitedly, tossing his hand to his forehead in a crisp salute. "And may I say what an excellent job you've been doing with the world!" he shouted as Drakken and Erik continued walking without him.

* * *

"Sorry, Kim. Between the lack of power and the shock, the data in the synthogoo is a mess." Wade said. He sat at the pentagonal desk that surrounded the holographic projector in the center of the GJ base with the sealed vat of synthogoo between himself and Joss, adjusting energy and data cables that connected the vat to the computer system. "We'll be lucky if we get anything at all."

Kim frowned. "Try boosting the power, Joss." She stood a short distance away, watching her friend and cousin work while Ron leaned on the desk beside Wade with Rufus snoring loudly in his pocket. "Drakken's been converting his old transmission bases into power plants. He's got to be up to something big."

Without warning, the holographic projector came to life, displaying a three dimensional, translucent image of Doctor James Possible from his knees up. "Anything I can help with, Kimmie-Cub?" he asked. He stood casually with his hands in his pants pockets, and had the same cheery tone to his voice that he always did.

"Hey Dad." Kim greeted the holographic image with a smile.

"Mr. Dr. P." Ron said, turning to face the man. "How's it hangin' in computer land?"

"Oh, just fine Ronald. By the way, when are you going to stop using cheat codes for those video games you keep playing?" Dr. Possible asked.

Ron blushed and began to stammer in denial before Kim interrupted him. "We've got some scrambled synthogoo, Dad. There's a good chance that it's got Drakken's plans on file."

Doctor Possible thought for a moment, holding his chin and staring off into the distance. "Well, I could try to integrate my systems with the data matrix. That should be able to defragment the information enough to make it accessible."

Kim shrugged, looking at her teammates for confirmation. "Sure... let's do that." she smiled, not completely sure what he father had just said. Doctor Possible seemed to concentrate for a moment until the static on Wade's monitor stabilized into a coherent image. "Spankin', Dad."

"Project New World Order..." Joss said, leaning over Wade to get a closer look. "I reckon that's somethin' I heard about before I left Drakken's employ. Never told us newbies much about it though."

"Four projects at once?" Ron asked. "He's been busy." On Wade's monitor were displayed four groups beneath the heading Project New World Order. Charon, Prometheus, Icarus, and Styx, and each one had an encrypted link that undoubtedly led to an overall outline for each.

"Since each phase is named using Greek Mythology, there's a good chance that each one pertains to one of the four elements." Mr. Dr. Possible said. "Either as a target, or a form of delivery."

"Earth, Air, Fire, Water." Wade summarized, rubbing his chin.

"Kind of a vague clue, though." Kim commented. "Any chance you can decrypt the files themselves, Dad?" she asked.

"Well, I can give it a go." he smiled, closing his eyes in concentration and whistling the old Captain Constellation theme song.

"Wade, see what you can do to help him. If we can crack this now, Drakken will so be foiled." Kim smiled, feeling a sudden spark of hope spread through her body. Her friends around her smiled too, and Kim knew that this could be their big break.

* * *

The door to Hephaestus' containment chamber slid open and Drakken entered the dimly lit, foggy room. Hephaestus itself resembled a glass globe with a two meter diameter that pivoted continuously on a set of four jointed supports that were connected to the floor. The globe had a permanent fog that surrounded it like a planet's atmosphere, and a red inner light seemed to move from Hephaestus' center to just below the surface of the glassy orb, watching Drakken as he entered the room. Hephaestus had been discovered in a crater nearly a decade ago and had laid dormant while scientists from the Middleton Space Center poked and prodded it in an effort to learn its secrets. The cybertronic technology that gave birth to the Diablos had been only the tip of the iceberg that it had offered Drakken when he had discovered its location in Doctor Possible's memories.

Drakken smiled as he looked upon the glowing sphere. This mechanical being was his tool. His forge for creating a New Order with which to bend the world to his will, so long as Kim Possible didn't continue to get in his way. "Hephaestus!" he shouted, listening to his voice echo through the room. "The Charon phase of Project New World Order may have been discovered. Are you ready to move forward early?"

The deep, whispering voice of Hephaestus filled the room, made even more haunting in the fog, heard not by Drakken's cybernetic receiver as usual, but by his own physical senses. "The digital combination of cybernetic coding and biological mental patterns is complete, Lord Drakken. All that remains is the energy to merge them into forged cybermantic bodies in order to host the mind imprints."

"The power will be available at midnight." Drakken said, standing against the wall of the containment chamber. "The Mass Energy Receiver is in place and operational."

"Good. We crave power. We... hunger." Hephaestus said, an eerie growl emanating through the immense cables that ran along the walls and floor of the room.

"Yes, yes. Like I said, it will be..." Drakken said in irritation before a view screen beside him activated and the face of Hank Perkins appeared.

"Lord Drakken?" he asked in his energetic and polite voice.

Drakken spun, both his artificial eye and Hephaestus' inner light gleaming bright red in anger. "What do you want?! I gave explicit instructions for no interruptions here!"

"My humblest apologies, Lord Drakken." Hank smiled, bowing slightly. "But I thought you may be interested in hearing my report on the missing data matrix."

Drakken growled, folding his arms over his chest. "Fine..."

"It would appear that synthodrone Nine Eight Five had full information on Project Charon, and fifty percent of the other three phases." Hank recounted.

"Great!" Drakken lamented. "Kim Possible has access to enough information to stop this phase..." he frowned. Then he paused, and a grin formed on his half metallic face. "Unless... Do you have the synthodrone's destruct signal, as I asked?"

"Yes, sir! I..."

"Transmit it on all frequencies and use every milliwatt of available power!" Drakken ordered, cutting the connection on the view screen. "Not to worry, Hephaestus. Wherever young Kimberly Anne is hiding that data matrix, she's about to have a very big mess on her hands." he said with a hearty, evil laugh.

* * *

"Almost got it, Kim." Wade said as his fingers continued to dance over the keyboard. Kim rushed to look over Wade's shoulder with Joss.

Ron remained in an adjacent seat with Rufus still sleeping in his pocket. With his arms up and his hands behind his head, he slowly spun in his chair while Wade and Mr. Dr. Possible continued their decryption. Suddenly, he stopped at the subtle sound of a bubble popping. He turned and listened, trying to hear over Wade's constant key clicking. Another pop drew his attention to the vat of synthogoo. Tiny bubbles were clinging to the inside of the vat and the odd larger bubble formed on the bottom and rose to the top before popping and giving off a small spark. "Guys?" Ron asked, staring at the vat.

"Not now, Ron. Wade's tryin' to concentrate." Joss scolded.

"Yeah, but..." Ron began as more and more bubbles floated to the top. What began as an unnoticeable hum quickly escalated to a deafening, high pitched whine. "Is that supposed to do that?!" Ron shouted over the squeal as he covered his ears.

The rest of the team covered their ears as well, grimacing against the pitch. "It's been set to overload!" Wade shouted.

"It's gonna blow!" Joss yelled, noticing Kim move toward the vat.

"Dad! Disconnect!" Kim shouted. Wade, Joss, and Ron each had to struggle to pull Kim away as arcs of electricity ran through the boiling vat of thick, yellow ooze. Thick glass flew everywhere as the vat exploded, sending a powerful shockwave through the computer components it was connected to and spraying synthogoo over everything in the room. Sparks began showering the area as the main lights went out and electrical fires erupted from several computer banks around the room. A final explosion burst out of Wade's console, knocking the four people to the floor.

Kim laid on her back, looking up into Ron's glowing, dark blue eyes as he shielded her body with his own. "You okay, KP?" he asked, his voice booming slightly before his mystical aura faded.

She narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously as something moved past her bare midriff. "What is that?" she asked.

Rufus poked his head out from between them and waved. "Hi!"

Kim rolled her eyes and pushed Ron off of her. Wade and Joss were already putting out fires and checking systems. "Dad?" she shouted, punching unlit controls on the console. A knot caught in her throat as Ron stepped up beside her.

"System's dead, KP." Ron said, knowing full well what was going through her mind.

"Wade, give me the sitch." she ordered, staring at where the holographic image of her father had been a moment before.

"The spike fried the whole system, Kim." Wade said, hurriedly disconnecting the power feed from the computer systems to the vat of synthogoo. "It doesn't look good."

"Get my Dad back. Whatever it takes." Kim insisted.

"Kim, the blast wiped his memory banks." Joss said, looking back at her older cousin from across the room.

Kim glared back at her, feeling suddenly helpless. "Just do it..."

* * *

A rhythmic beeping began on the view screen that was embedded in the wall beside Drakken, showing a glowing line from the West coast of the former United States to BN Headquarters. "Ah ha! The first of the power arrives and soon my army of synthomechs will be complete, sweeping across the planet and bringing an end to this irritating rebellion!" Drakken was wringing his hands in anticipation when a thought struck him. "How many will you create for me, Hephaestus? Hundreds? Thousands? How many beings have you stored?"

"Many." came the haunting voice. "We are legion."

Drakken grinned. "Good..."

* * *

Kim wiped her cheeks with the back of her hand at the sound of footfalls coming down the darkened hallway. She straightened her black crop top, clearing her throat and squaring her shoulders. "KP?" Ron asked quietly. Kim let herself relax at the sound of his voice and she squeezed her eyes shut. In the time Kim and Ron had known each other, Ron had seen more than just her tears, and seemed to be the only person she could be herself around. They had switched bodies back in High School, for crying out loud!

"How's it look?" she asked without turning around. When Ron didn't answer right away, Kim sighed. "That bad, huh? No report from Wade or Joss?"

"We figured one of us should tell you. Guess I drew the short straw." Ron replied.

"No you didn't, Ron." Kim said with a sniff, feeling her stomach tighten.

"No, I didn't." Ron confirmed. "It's bad, Kim. Wade says your... he says that the holographic data compiling system's internal damage compensator took a heavy shock." he said, saying each word deliberately, as though putting extra effort into remembering each one. "The whole thing could go when we throw the switch."

"And if that happens?" Kim asked, already aware of the consequences, but hoping for one of Wade's flashes of genius.

"He says there will be no way to restore it. The holo..." Ron said.

"My Dad, Ron..." Kim corrected him.

"Your Dad... will fry every chip he's got." Ron said with a frown, stepping closer and putting a hand on Kim's shoulder. Unexpectedly, she spun and clenched Ron in a tight hug, burying her face in his chest. At first, Ron hesitated before putting his arms around her. "He's not really your Dad, Kim."

"No..." Kim admitted, wiping her eyes on Ron's uniform. "But he has my Dad's voice. His face." she whispered. "His... I don't know. His Dad-ness. He's all I've got left of my Dad, Ron. And if I don't find a way to stop Drakken, he'll have died for nothing. I can't watch him die again."

Ron let Kim shudder against him, wiping his own cheeks in her tightly pulled back hair. For a moment, he hated Drakken. He hated what the world had become, and he hated himself for what he had to say next. "We've only got a half hour of battery life, Kim. Beyond that, Joss doesn't think we'll have another chance."

For a moment, Kim felt deathly heavy in his arms until she nodded. "I know." she whispered, standing tall and pushing away from him again. "Let's do this." Kim led the way back to the control room where Wade, Joss, and Rufus each took a seat after completing their repairs. "Are we good to go?" she asked calmly, as though she had no emotion in the matter.

"Held together with bubblegum and good intentions." Wade said with a smile, then frowned when Kim didn't return the gesture. "It's the best we can do."

"If it's your bubblegum, I'm sure it'll be enough." Kim said with a straight face, putting an encouraging hand on Wade's shoulder. She took a deep breath and blew it out. "Well, what are we waiting for?"

Joss and Wade turned to their consoles as Rufus scurried off of the desk and up to Ron's shoulder, shaking and biting his claws. "Diverting all remaining battery to Dr. Possible's systems..." Wade said, twisting a heavy duty knob on the console. "Now."

The red emergency lighting began to flicker with a strobe effect as particles of light slowly formed above the holographic emitter. "Dad?" Kim asked. The particles of light seemed to shatter and fall, then struggle to hold together again. "Can you hear me, Dad?" The red gloom of the emergency lighting winked out, casting the control room and its occupants in utter darkness, save for the swirling colors of the hologram. "Dad, talk to me." Kim said, more earnestly.

"Systems are going into the red." Joss announced as the particles of light fell once more, then again tried to reform. "Generators are about to blow!"

"I'll risk it." Kim said, keeping her gaze on the holographic emitter. "Dad!"

The particles slowly formed a gray image of her father before changing color. The lights came on with a soft hum, brightening slowly until they were at full illumination. "Online, Kimmie-cub." her father smiled. Joss and Wade shared an elaborate handshake and Rufus threw his fists into the air with a cheer.

"Glad to have you back, Mr. Dr. P." Ron said, stepping up beside Kim.

Kim let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding and smiled. "Project New World Order. You still have the down low?" Kim asked, back to business.

"Most of the information was lost in the crash. I can only access fragments of the Charon phase." Dr. Possible said with a frown.

Kim crossed her arms, preparing for more bad news. "Let's hear it."

"Well, it looks like Drakken has gained the capacity to create more synthomechs." he began.

"Because one indestructible killing machine just isn't enough." Ron complained.

"Another one?" Wade asked in surprise.

Doctor Possible gave a short chuckle. "Oh, no. Not one, Wade. Hundreds. Maybe thousands. Designed with more firepower and agility than Erik has."

"And fun times will be had by all." Joss said sarcastically.

Kim pushed on. "What about Drakken's converted transmission bases. Do they fit into Charon?"

"Well, even the nuclear dynamos in and around BN Headquarters don't have the ability to generate enough energy for a project like this." Doctor Possible explained.

"So he's beaming power wirelessly." Wade surmised. "That's actually brilliant."

"Is that possible?" Kim asked.

Wade spun in his chair to face Kim. "Same general concept as an energy weapon." he said. "Just higher output over a longer stream. Didn't you learn about Nikola Tesla in High School?"

"What does this guy have to do with Drakken?" Kim asked impatiently.

"It means he's got a ton o' batteries beaming power straight into his base of operations." Joss said.

"Can't we just destroy his transmitters?" Ron asked. "Or whatever he's transmitting to?"

"Drakken's got hundreds of transmission bases all over the planet. We'd never be able to sort through which ones still control Diablos and which are rigged to transmit power." Wade said. "And whatever receiver he's got would be in the heart of BN Headquarters. "We'd never get there in one piece."

"What if we don't have to?" Kim asked. "Dad, can you bring up a likely route for the power that Drakken will be receiving?"

"Got a plan, KP?" Ron asked.

"You said the power transmission is a lot like a laser or other energy weapon, right Wade?" Kim asked with a smile.

"Yeah, so?"

A holographic globe with glowing red lines appeared in front of Dr. Possible, showing the most likely route for the power to travel. "So that means line of sight. Except that BN Headquarters isn't in line of sight of anything since it was rebuilt, otherwise it would have been an easy target for long range attacks." Kim began to explain, studying the globe.

"Ah ha!" Ron exclaimed with a grin. When everyone turned to him with confused looks, he frowned. "Uh, why don't you explain that a little clearer. For Wade and Joss, I mean."

"It means..." Kim said, pointing at a bright red spot on the globe. "We have a point of convergence where all that power has to go before merging into one beam on its way to Drakken."

"But it doesn't have to go to anything to merge, Kim." Wade said. "There's no tower or building to destroy out there."

Kim frowned and shook her head. "To broadcast, you need a signal, right?"

"Yeah." Joss said. "I don't like where this is going."

"Kim, this is crazy." Wade accused.

"What? What?!" Ron cried, obviously lost.

"We go to where the signals converge and use the Kepler's jammers to scramble them, turning the power back on the transmission bases." Kim explained, meeting each pair of eyes in turn before settling on the holographic image of her father.

Doctor Possible was beaming as he put his hands on his hips. "That's my girl!"

"It's a lot o' power, Kim." Joss said, leaning back in her chair. "We could be fried like Pop Pop Porter's Cheese Puffs right on the spot."

"Mmm! Cheese Puffs!" Rufus grinned.

"Assuming it works." Joss said. "If it doesn't..."

Wade placed the end of a screwdriver between his lips, holding it like a pipe as he contemplated their fate. "Then we all get a one way ticket to BN Headquarters."

"Which used to sound like a good thing." Ron added, lifting a finger.

* * *

"Lord Drakken, sir!" Hank Perkins said, appearing on the view screen in Hephaestus' containment chamber again. "Sorry for the intrusion, but we've detected Captain Possible's ship in Sector Seven Gee."

Drakken didn't bother to reply. Instead, he opened his thoughts to Erik and shouted, "Erik! Abort all other assignments and intercept target in Sector Seven Gee. Go!"

Erik grimaced against incoming fire, deflecting large caliber projectiles off of his shiny armor. He had been tracking Senor Senior Junior and his unit for a month now and was on the verge of destroying them all as he split a spinning top of Doom in half with an energy blast from his arm. But as he heard his father's voice come to him, his rocket thrusters folded out from his back mid-stride and pushed him into the sky, leaving the tiny rebellion in a thick plume of white exhaust.

* * *

The Kepler slowed to a crawl, its thrusters pivoting for hover capability until it settled into position. "Coordinates locked, Kim. We're in place." Joss said, checking her instruments.

"Really?" Ron asked, looking out his view port. The lights of Drakken's base could be seen several kilometers away, but no beams of power. "Can't see anything out there."

"You'll see plenty when our jammers kick in." Wade said, preparing the scrambling system. "Standing by to receive power and transmit reverse polarity."

Kim looked around at her crew. Rufus was behind her, waiting to divert and reroute power and to take care of damage control issues. Joss kept her steady hands on the control yoke, keeping the Kepler stable. Ron had his face pressed against his view port, watching; and Wade had his finger poised to activate the jamming system. It was possible... even likely, that this plan would destroy them all, but there was no fear in the cockpit. Only determination. Kim smiled. "Okay, Drakken. We've got some nostalgia for you. Go for it, Wade."

As the jamming system activated, consoles began to spark, filling the cockpit with thin wisps of smoke and the smell of ozone. "Power core temp spiking to four hundred degrees, Kim!" Joss shouted. "Capacitors just blew and we're reading a significant power loss!"

Kim heard Rufus confirm the report and she checked her own scanners. "Hold steady, Joss. If we can keep this up, the feedback should knock out the transmitters!"

Ron backed away from the viewport in surprise as a dozen, reddish orange streams of electrified plasma appeared outside. Each several meters thick, they converged on the Kepler and wound their way into the distance, whipping to and fro like a snake that just got its head trapped. "Quite the light show, now!"

Rufus squeaked and chittered a warning while pointing at his scanners. "Bogey at four o'clock. Looks like Erik!" came the translation. Suddenly, the Kepler shook as Erik pummeled the ship with blasts of energy before the loud clang of the synthomech landing on the hull rang through the cockpit.

Ron was already stepping past Kim's command chair when she grabbed his hand. "Ron..."

"Rematch time, KP." Ron said with anger in his eyes.

"Be careful." Kim replied, and Ron nodded before entering the elevator at the rear of the cockpit.

* * *

Drakken shielded the human side of his face from a shower of sparks that came from a transformer mounted on the wall of the containment chamber. "Lord Drakken!" Hephaestus called in alarm.

"More power!" Drakken shouted into the view screen.

"Impossible, sir!" Hank Perkins replied, panic beginning to fill his voice. "All of our equipment is coming apart. The broadcast signal is scrambled and our transmission bases are reporting severe feedback issues. They can't shut down their generators!"

"Then divert all stored power to this location. Shut down the defenses if you have to!" Drakken ordered.

"Is that wise, sir?!" Hank asked in hesitation.

"DO IT!" Drakken shouted, clenching his mechanical hand into a fist.

* * *

Erik dug his fingertips into the hull of the Kepler and peeled back a strip of armor plating, tossing it aside and revealing the vulnerable cables and other components. At the moment, he wasn't overly concerned about what he destroyed on the ship, so long as it fell out of position quickly. He would deal with the remnants later. The tendrils of energy that ran across the surface of the Kepler played at his feet and climbed up his legs in threads whenever he took a step.

As Erik opened both palms toward the exposed internal workings of the Kepler, the surface of the ship was bathed in a sudden blue light. Erik turned his head slowly, his palms crackling with energy that was waiting to be released. "How are those frail bones of yours? Back for another beating?"

Ron shook his head. "How's the head? Couldn't get one quite as pretty as the last one, I see?"

Erik narrowed his eyes at Ron and turned his attention back to his target. Ron cupped one hand and whirled about before extending his open palm toward Erik. Before Erik could fire, a massive blast struck him and sent him spinning into the air. He ignited his rocket thrusters, stabilizing himself, and began flying back toward Ron.

Ron calmly sidestepped in a flourish of his arms, striking Erik in the throat and using the synthomech's weight and momentum to slam him onto his back, denting the hull of the Kepler. Erik placed his hand on Ron's chest and fired his arm cannon as he was dropped onto the armor plating. Flying backward, Ron reached out to grab one of the engine struts before he was thrown off of the ship. His shirt had been nearly vaporized in the blast, but his aura persisted, leaving no wounds on his chest.

Erik watched Ron descend the engine strut curiously. The subtle arcs of electricity that coursed over the ship seemed to avoid wherever Ron stood, and Erik smiled. "Well, that explains why you don't wear a suit like the others." he said. "It's not because you're tougher, it's because it won't work. Because you're a screw up!" he grinned, walking toward Ron and leaving imprints in the Kepler's plating. It also explained why Erik's energy weapons never seemed to work with any kind of force when Ron's aura enveloped him. Erik clenched his hands into fists as Ron settled into a comical stance that had one arm hanging relaxed over his head and the other curled tightly to his side. He was crouched with his left leg curled up beneath him and his right leg stretched out vertically and the shadow of a monkey's tail curled down beneath him, seemingly supporting his weight as he hovered a foot off of the Kepler.

Erik lunged as he got close. Ron seemed to pivot on the shadow of the tail, weaving from side to side as Erik swung with both arms until finally Ron struck with an outstretched leg, sending Erik skittering across the top of the Kepler until he slid to a stop over the forward viewport. He clenched his jaw as he looked into the viewport to see Kim and the rest of her crew smile and wave and he pounded his fists on the hardened, transparent steel, leaving a star pattern where he struck.

Without warning, Ron flew by and tackled Erik, causing them both to slide down the length of the Kepler's nose as Ron continued punching and causing splintering cracks in Erik's armor. Erik dug his fingers into the ship's hull again before he slid into one of the power streams, his head involuntarily flipping from side to side as Ron continued his assault. "Enough of this!" he shouted. Erik fired his arm cannons into the Kepler, pushing them both away from the ship and tearing a gaping hole in the nose. His thrusters blazed to life and Erik snatched Ron's wrist before he could leap away. "So you think you can fly, loser?!" he laughed, rocketing higher into the sky above the Kepler.

* * *

"That's it, Kim. Transmission bases are going up in smoke!" Wade shouted as Kim expended another small fire extinguisher. Much of the cockpit was now covered in white foam and black ash from numerous electrical fires.

"Any sign of Ron?" she asked, sitting back into her command chair.

"Can't tell, Kim. Scanners are blind!" Wade told her.

"Engines are out, too!" Joss announced. "Estimating impact in four minutes!"

"The quantum drive!" Kim ordered.

"It's not meant for primary flight. I'll have to bypass!" Joss said, unbuckling as the Kepler began to descend toward BN Headquarters.

* * *

Hephaestus' containment chamber filled with more and more smoke and fog as a large round doorway opened in the floor in front of it. A bright, fluorescent green light blazed from the hole and a single form rose from beneath the room on a platform.

Drakken waved the smoke and fog away from in front of him in an effort to see the first of his new army of synthomechs. "Did we succeed? Do I have my invincible army?!" he shouted.

The form was slender, lithe, and elegant, with glassy armor that had a chaotic, shifting green and black smoky interior. The obviously female form stood slowly, with strands of fiber optic lengths making up a full head of hair that fell down her back and reached to her hips.

"Only one, Lord Drakken." Hephaestus said in disappointment as the synthomech's clawed hands began to glow a fiery green. "Only one..."

* * *

Ron should have been screaming. Fearing for his life. Kicking and yelling. Doing something while Erik dragged him higher into the night sky, away from his friends and the safety of the Kepler. Erik continued to squeeze his wrist, but the mystical aura gave Ron's body the resiliency of granite. Grabbing Erik's forearm, Ron twisted upside down, using the synthomech as a fulcrum for delivering a series of kicks to his head and throat. Erik recoiled in surprise and let go of his grip on Ron.

Ron twisted again, placing his feet on the back of Erik's head and gripping the rocket thrusters that protruded from his back. "Your flight's just been..." Ron shouted through clenched teeth as he pulled with all of his might. "Cancelled!" The thrusters pulled free and Erik yelled in agony as a gleaming white light exploded from the damaged location. Erik's armor plating closed up and sealed over the wound and the rockets continued to fly off in a spiral before losing thrust and falling.

Erik snatched Ron's ankle with one hand as they both began to fall, and latched onto his belt with the other, pulling Ron down and face to face. "What's your plan now, genius?! I can survive this height. How about you?!" he shouted with a grin over the sound of the wind gusting by.

"No plan!" Ron said, pushing away from Erik as his belt tore off. "Just made sure to have clean underwear!" he grinned. His aura faded into wisps of blue smoke and he pressed a button on the back of his glove. Erik stared at him in surprise as a plume of smoke burst out of his pant legs and Ron shot out of them with a terrified scream, his pants catching the wind and hovering as Erik continued to fall, shouting obscenities that were lost to the wind.

* * *

"Something coming in fast, Kim!" Wade said as his scanners flickered to life momentarily.

"Please don't let it be Erik..." Kim whispered to herself. She was watching the industrial landscape that surrounded BN Headquarters quickly approach as Joss continued to struggle with the quantum drive.

A faint thud resonated on the outside of the Kepler and a few moments later, the elevator at the rear of the cockpit slid open, dumping Ron onto the floor in nothing but his shoes, gloves and a pair of very revealingly torn blaster briefs. "Present!" Ron groaned.

"Anytime, Joss!" Kim shouted.

"Got it!" she exclaimed, pulling back on the control yoke and engaging the quantum drive. Ron was pushed back into the elevator and the rest of the crew were pressed into their seats as the shimmering acceleration shield formed around the Kepler.

The ship fell below the tops of the surrounding factories, power plants, and defense turrets, which were mysteriously dormant. The shockwave from the Kepler accelerating tore up pavement below them and shattered armored bunkers on either side as Joss steered the ship straight down the pathway toward BN Headquarters. The Kepler began to ascend out of the steel canyon, picking up anything that wasn't bolted down in its wake and tossing it aside like tissue in a windstorm. "What is that?" Kim asked, pointing forward at a towering receiver dish that was protruding from the top of Drakken's tower.

"Must be Drakken's power receiver!" Wade called. "We're gonna..." he began, squeezing his eyes shut.

Joss grinned wildly as she spun the Kepler into a barrel roll, skimming past the tower at hyper velocity, tearing it away with the following shockwave and sending it crashing into the steel landscape. "Yeee-Haaawww!" Joss shouted, guiding the Kepler home.

* * *

Drakken stared at Hephaestus' newest creation as she stood on the balcony overlooking the dark city around BN Headquarters. "Dr. D?" she asked, obviously sensing his presence. She looked back at him and oddly, Drakken felt embarrassed by his appearance. Her face was composed of dozens of small hexes, much like Erik's, and her eyes were a solid glowing green, but her black lips and slender eyebrows gave her the same basic appearance that he remembered from so long ago. "Looks like you've done fairly well for yourself, Doc."

Drakken stepped up beside her, clasping the thick rail that surrounded the balcony in both hands. "The world is in transition, Shego. As soon as I can get rid of Kim Possible and her band of merry men, I can move on."

"Really?" Shego asked, leaning against the railing again. "Still?"

"Yes, still!" he replied in irritation. A faint cough came from behind them and Drakken turned around to spot a diminutive mechanical being that Drakken recognized, yet couldn't believe. "Hephaestus?! What is this?" he asked, his mechanical arm bending the railing out of reflex.

"Is that?" Shego asked, pointing. The meter tall robot stood with his arms behind his back. His form wasn't as sturdy or smooth as Erik or Shego's, with a dark red and black main body that had short, blocky legs and stocky arms connected to it. His head was a smooth, black dome with a yellow grill for a vocalizer and glowing yellow eyes that seemed to mock Drakken as they stared at each other.

"As the power failed, there was insufficient energy to complete another synthomech." Hephaestus said through Drakken's communication receiver. "But there was enough for this. He will serve us well."

"It zeems that I am now ze servant who iz humbling, Lord Drakken." Dementor said, performing a curt bow.

Drakken pulled his hand free from the mangled railing and stepped up to the short statured robot, looking down his nose at him for a moment before continuing past him. "I'll deal with this later. Shego! Come. I have something for you to do."

Dementor turned, his gaze following Shego as she passed by. Suddenly, the whispering voice of Hephaestus sounded in his mind. "Do you understand your mission?" it asked.

"Pervectly." Dementor replied.


	7. Sanctuary

**Sanctuary**

The peak of an ancient Egyptian pyramid that had stood for millennia suddenly exploded into a shower of rock and sand in the blazing hot desert sun. Shego waved away the dust and deflected bits of rock with an arm. She coughed out of reflex as the sand settled around her and she grinned at the majority of what was left of the age old structure. Touching her fingertips together, a ball of energy formed from the arcing wisps of green fire and she released it like a baseball toward the pyramid, causing another massive explosion that vaporized a corner, collapsing the pyramid in on itself.

"Shego?" Drakken's voice resonated in Shego's mind and she narrowed her eyes at her target, firing a constant volley of green energy at the remaining rubble as it fell. "Shego!"

Shego sighed in irritation as the dust cleared, revealing the pyramid to be nothing more than a crater full of rubble. "Are you going to keep talking in my head like this, Dr. D?" she asked, inspecting her robotic claws.

"Yes, Shego." Drakken replied with impatience. "Why have you stopped?"

Shego suddenly paused. "Are you tracking me?!"

Lord Drakken sat in his control room, overseeing multiple projects at once on his view screen and he buried his face in his gloved hand for a moment, suddenly wondering why he had decided to try out his new toy instead of sending his ever loyal warlord, Erik. "Yes, Shego. I keep much better track of my assets now than I used to."

"Your assets?!" Shego protested in rising anger.

To her surprise, Drakken was unfazed. "Yes. You are an asset in my quest for world domination!" he shouted, slamming his mechanical fist on the arm of his chair. "Now what stopped you?"

Shego clenched her hands into fists. "Something got in my way, alright?"

"Threat level?" Drakken asked, swiveling in his chair to review his latest project that focused on the Styx phase. With project Charon only a marginal success, it was becoming time to up the stakes.

"High enough..." Shego grumbled, glaring at the rubble before her.

Drakken leaned forward in his chair, taking a closer look at several minor uprisings in Australia. "Fine. Continue to your target, then." he ordered, sitting back in his chair and mentally commanding Erik to quench the rebellion Down Under.

* * *

The Kepler flew silently over the Egyptian desert with not even the sand stirring at its passing. The crew sat in their respective positions quietly. The last spur of the moment mission had been a success, and despite losing the synthodrone data banks and nearly losing Dr. Possible's holographic representation and the GJ base itself, Kim and her friends were feeling a subdued elation. Even Ron wore a smile again after his rematch with Erik. It had been relatively quiet lately, though Kim knew that retaliation would be coming soon.

"Got a lock on that power source, Wade?" Kim asked, breaking the silence in the ship. It had been only a few hours since he had intercepted communication chatter of Drakken's forces. They had apparently come across a strange power source in the middle of the Black Desert in Western Egypt, and Kim was determined to get there first.

"It's down deep, Kim." Wade replied. "Should be right below us." he nodded.

"Okay, Joss; take us down easy. We'll suit up before heading out, just in case Drakken's troops made it here before we did." Kim said as Joss nodded and set the Kepler down on a rocky outcropping that was layered with black volcanic ash.

Ron squeezed his eyes shut and pressed his hands over his ears as the rest of the crew stood, touching the small silver GJ button on their collars. Even through his eyelids, the flashes of light were nearly blinding and the final orchestra of thunder of the four battle suits activating blared in the enclosed space of the Kepler's cockpit. "Y'know, you could actually let me get out before you do that." Ron said. His complaints went relatively ignored however, as the crew filed out of the ship and into the silty black sand.

"Better hide the Kepler, Wade." Kim suggested as the entry ramp closed behind them. Wade opened a flap on his gauntlet and keyed a series of buttons before the ship began to shimmer in the hot sun, taking on a black rocky form that melded seamlessly with the environment. "Let's jet."

Wade took the lead into a maze of rocks that had been formed by age old lava flows, guided only by the scanner on his wrist. "I'm detecting a tunnel network about fifty meters down the lava tube, Kim." he announced.

Ron gasped. "Why is it so hot in here?!" he whined, quickly removing his hand from the rock wall. His black Global Justice uniform was plastered to his skin and the sweat on his brow was evaporating even as he perspired. "We're in the shade!"

Joss looked back at him, grinning behind the mask of her environmentally conditioned battle suit. "Really? I hadn't noticed."

"It's just afternoon. The black ash holds in the heat." Wade commented. "This lava tube would be like a microwave at mid day."

"Lava tube?" Ron asked hesitantly. "You mean..."

"Active volcanoes are all over this area." Joss informed him. "It's mostly ash we're walking in." Ron frowned, stopping for a moment before Rufus urged him forward with his mechanical body.

"So we're willingly walking down a path that could flood with molten rock at any time." Ron panted. "Good to know." The crevice opened up into a wider area with columns of porous volcanic rock that jetted up from the floor. "Anyone else have a bad feeling about that?" he asked as the group spread out into the clearing.

"I do." Kim said, finally speaking up.

"Really?" Ron asked, surprised.

"Get down!" Kim shouted back, tackling Ron to the ground as an energy blast shot out from a shallow cave, illuminating the synthodrone that held the rifle. Bolts began to rain down from every angle and Kim hand sprung from on top of Ron and the myonetic capacitors of her suit launched her up to one of the synthodrone's hiding places. "Time to power on, Ron! Wade, find an entrance!" she ordered, gripping the arm of the synthodrone and tossing it down to the rocky floor below.

Ron leaped to his feet before the synthodrone replaced his position on the ground. Joss drew both of her personally modified energy pistols, taking cover behind one of the columns of rock that was shattering into sharp bits that began spraying her black and gold battle armor. Wade sat beside her, inspecting his scanner for a topographical map of the area. Rufus stood mainly in the open, taking numerous hits that either bounced off or fizzled to small burn marks while he returned fire with his energy cannon.

The rocky cavity was lit up with blue and red lights as the fire fight sprang to life and Ron leaped to a crevice containing a pair of synthodrones that were returning fire to the group below from behind the ashen rock. He spun in mid flight to avoid the bolts of energy that filled the area before he smashed through the synthodrones cover, the flicker of a great monkey's shadow bathing the room for a moment in a blue glow. The shards of shale sliced through the synthodrones thick husks, pouring their fluids over the back of the crevice.

Joss turned from the column of rock, her battle suits targeting computer picking out targets. With each shot, the capacitors in each pistol rotated and began charging again, expending their entire energy reserve before the cylinder placed another capacitor in the firing chamber, allowing for a greater yield than a more conventional energy pistol like Kim's or Wade's. While this meant a slower fire rate as well, Joss compensated for this with her natural ambidexterity and with each on-target tone that rang through her helmet, she pulled the trigger, effectively disintegrating each synthodrone into a fine yellow mist. She rolled to avoid return fire and came to a standing position with her back to Rufus.

Wade grinned at his echolocation scanner and pointed at a less porous area of the rock wall. "There!" he shouted over the raucous firefight. "There's a tunnel network behind there!"

"Rufus, give us an exit!" Kim shouted, firing her energy pistol with uncanny accuracy from her covered position above the rest of her crew. As Ron continued leaping from alcove to alcove, Kim kept an eye on any synthodrones that were attempting to target him.

Rufus let the energy cannon that was mounted to his robot body's hip to swing away and charged at the wall, breaking through in a cloud of ash and thick dust. "Wade, get going!" Joss said, crouching and continuing to fire. "I'll cover you!" Wade nodded, standing and charging after Rufus and signaling Joss to follow. "Kim! Time to ride!"

Kim watched as Joss followed Wade into the makeshift entrance and she dived out of the alcove she had taken refuge in, the myonetic components of her battle armor cushioning her fall as she landed, rolled, then continued running. "Ron! We need to close this up! Come on!"

"On my way, KP!" Ron shouted back, tossing another synthodrone to the floor below to be impaled on a volcanic stalagmite. He followed after it, dodging energy fire from the remaining synthodrones as he landed and ran towards the hole in the wall. The sound of synthodrones dropping to the ground behind him caused Ron to turn inside the entrance and he grinned at them, striking the walls of the tunnel with glowing fists. The synthodrones took aim with their rifles as the walls of the dry lava pool began to collapse and Kim yanked on Ron's belt to pull him clear of the collapsing entrance.

Ron coughed against the resulting dust cloud in the enclosed space and reached out for Kim in the darkness. "Ron?" Kim asked. "Little light?"

He could be heard sighing as a blue glow slowly washed over the walls of the tunnel and down its length. "Ultimate cosmic power, and I'm being used as a flash light." he stated dryly, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I sure hope there's another exit." Joss said, holstering her pistols and allowing her helmet to fold away into a compact form around her collar.

"Not to worry." Wade smiled. "We've got the Tunnel Lord on our side." He continued, gesturing to Rufus. The naked mole rat lifted the face place on his robot body and nodded, cracking the knuckles of his tiny paws.

"What?" Joss asked, confused.

"Never mind." Kim said, taking the lead. "We should conserve power, just in case. So be careful." she added, deactivating her battle armor in a flicker of diminishing light and a soft deepening tone of immense energy being stored. Wade and Joss followed suit and Rufus leaped to Ron's shoulder as he did the same.

Ron watched in wonderment as the bulky, humanoid robot vanished into a gleam of energy to be stored in Rufus's collar. "That is so rockin' that that thing can do that!" he grinned, high fiving Rufus with a single finger.

"Actually, I've been using the technology in the Kimmunicator and your old jet packs for years. Throwing in a fusion reactor and it was a short leap to military applications." Wade said proudly. Both Ron and Rufus stared at him in confusion before shrugging, and Wade sighed. "Okay, yes. It's rockin'."

"I'm just happy to be out of the hot sun!" Ron stated as the group began making their way down the tunnel.

"I keep telling you, Ron. We have extra battle suits. Why don't you use one?" Wade asked, following behind Kim and Joss while Ron and Rufus were at the end of the line.

Ron crossed his arms defensively, turning away as he did. "Maybe I don't want a crutch..."

"Since when?" Wade retorted, but was cut off by Kim.

"Hey!" she whispered. "Sneak much?"

"Sorry, Kim." the two men responded in unison before the group carried on. The floor of the cavern seemed unnaturally smooth and well traveled. Wade looked down at his scanner and frowned. "Signal's strong, Kim. We're definitely getting close to the..." From the darkness of a recess in the rock wall protruded a bowling ball sized orb connected to an articulated metal arm. It shot out to nearly an inch from Kim's face before a metal eyelid-like mechanism revealed a glassy red sphere inside. "...source."

"Very astute, Wade." Kim said sarcastically.

"Identify yourselves." came a squawky, electronic voice from the orb as it pulled away from Kim in order to view the entire group.

"I'm Captain Kimberly-Anne Possible of Global Justice." Kim said, introducing herself. "This is..."

"I know of your reputation, Kim Possible. Nevertheless, you and your friends are welcome here in Sanctuary." the disembodied voice said before the metal eyelid closed and the orb retracted back into the wall.

"What's that mean?" Joss asked incredulously.

The wall began to split along an invisible seam and Kim stepped through, cautiously holstering her pistol with Joss following behind. Wade began to follow as well before Ron stopped him and whispered. "How's your battle suite going to hold up being swallowed whole by a pit monster?" he smiled, allowing his mystical glow to fade away into wisps of blue smoke.

Wade seemed confused for a moment before staring at the dark recess that the orb had retracted into. "Let's just try to keep an open mind, okay?" he chuckled back.

The scenery Kim walked into was amazing, and her mouth hung open as Joss stepped up beside her, speaking before thinking. "Holy sh..."

"Shazam!" Wade finished for her as the rest of the group pushed into the entryway. The surrounding rock melded almost seamlessly into highly decorated, manufactured walls composed of earthy tones beneath real live vines with budding flowers. There was a hint of natural fragrances on the air and Kim had to stifle a cough. Even the GJ base didn't have air this clean. The sound of the odd cricket resounded and a butterfly staggered in the air to land on Rufus's nose.

"It's beautiful..." Kim whispered to herself. Beyond the plaster walls that lead off in either direction, Kim could see more rock down the hallway ahead of them, and the sound of rushing water was evident as they walked toward it. She stepped forward cautiously and grasped a steel railing that separated the balcony they were now on from a massive cavern that held a waterfall that fed a large pool that was surrounded by people that leisured around the steaming water.

"Wow!" the others said as they came up beside Kim, leaning on the railing.

"It's been a long time since I've heard real, no worries kinda laughter." Joss commented with a smile as the group watched and listened to the people below. Ron quickly covered Wade's eyes with his hands as he spotted a small group of skinny dippers.

"Welcome to Sanctuary, Kim Possible." came a male voice. Kim turned to see a man with round, gold framed glasses walking toward them with a younger woman beside him. Both individuals had brown hair, and wore comfortable looking clothing reminiscent of styles before the Diablo War. "Like many before you who have grown tired of war, Sanctuary is a place for you to lay down your weapons and find a haven to rest."

Kim stared at the man with recognition. "Thank you, but we have no intention of sticking around." Ron seemed about to protest at her proclamation, but got an elbow from Joss for his effort.

"Still, once you've had a chance to look around and enjoy our amenities, I have no doubt that you'll change your mind."

"Do we know you?" Ron asked, suspicion evident in his voice.

The man smiled with a maw of crooked and broken teeth. Joss, Wade, Ron, and Rufus gasped at the sight, but Kim merely swallowed hard, unfazed. "Walter Nelson." she stated plainly.

"Ah! You remember." Walter said, hiding his teeth behind his lips again. "It's been a long time, Kim. Our brace lock left me with a lot to think about over the years as the orthodontist wasn't able to repair the damage. When the Diablo War started, I had feared the worst." The woman beside him cleared her throat quietly, causing Walter to turn. "Of course. Where are my manners?" he laughed lightly. "This is my sister, Olivia. Together, we've lead the people here since the onset of Lord Drakken's rule."

Olivia had an attractive, if average seventeen year old appearance with fading freckles on her cheeks and sparkling straight teeth when she smiled, in contrast to her older brother's. Her shoulder length hair was tied back in a pony tail with bangs that were styled to cover her forehead.

Her voice was quieter than Walter's, but deeper; portraying far less confidence than her brother. "Walter and I will be your guides around Sanctuary." she said, then subtly batted her eyes at Wade. "If there are any of you that would like to come with me..."

Wade began to stammer and mumble until Joss pushed him forward. "He'd be honored." she smiled, her country twang slipping into her accent. As Wade hesitantly accepted Olivia's outstretched hand and began walking away, Walter motioned for Kim and the others to follow him.

The rest of the complex was just as amazing as the underground lake they had witnessed upon entering. From hydroponics farms and cleaning robots to more expanses of empty caverns full of people that seemed oblivious to the war going on above them. A slow walk brought the group into a control room where Walter began explaining their situation. "This used to be an aeronautics testing facility that my father worked in. Shortly after the Diablos destroyed the world's governments, he sent Olivia and I here to live amongst the workers and their families.

"Why was there an American aeronautics facility in Egypt?" Kim asked, genuine curiosity showing through. Joss began wandering around the room casually, paying attention to controls and readings that were displayed on carious consoles.

Walter smiled again and Ron coughed and swallowed, gagging slightly. "My Dad's work wasn't talked about in the open very much. When we got here, we found that the entire facility was run on geothermal power. It has immense hydroponics labs, as you've seen, and was fed by underground rivers."

"Even with being off of the grid, Drakken must have heard of you. How are you managing to stay clear?" Kim asked.

"Not even Drakken's forces can penetrate a mile of solid rock." Walter replied confidently. "Here we can live in peace until Drakken's Synthetic Empire passes and our children or their descendants can return to the surface."

"Sounds a lot like the Shangri-La that Yori mentioned." Ron commented, drawing Kim's attention.

Turning back to Walter, Kim smiled politely, but shook her head. "I appreciate the invitation, Walter. But putting my head in the sand and hoping that Drakken will just go away isn't how I roll."

Walter chuckled. "Of course. I really couldn't expect anything less from you, Kim. But the offer still stands. Make yourselves comfortable while you're..."

"Mr. Nelson, you're required in Section 'D'. Mr. Nelson, Section 'D'." came a female voice from the room's intercom.

"My apologies." Walter said calmly. "I guess someone needs me." Walter began to usher Kim and her crew out of the control room before closing the secured door. "Please make use of our modest luxuries, and don't be afraid to call or beep me if you need me."

Ron put on a fake smile and waved as Walter left. "Bad road, Kim."

"You say that about everyone that's more friendly to me than you, Ron." Kim replied, rolling her eyes.

"And have I been wrong?" Ron asked defensively.

Kim narrowed her eyes at him, but was interrupted by Joss before she could offer a retort. "Kim, I checked the power requirements of Sanctuary and I reckon the power that they're gettin' from the geothermal plants are way over the limit of what even a city would require."

"So where's all that extra power going?" Ron asked.

"Good question." Kim agreed. "Joss, have a look around. See what you can find out."

"Take Rufus." Ron said, setting the naked mole rat on the younger woman's shoulder. "He'll watch your back."

"Spankin'." Joss smiled at the rodent, then drifted off a little too casually, whistling a steady tune.

"In the meantime, we should get Walter to show us how to get back to the surface." Kim said, folding her arms over her chest.

"Good idea." Ron replied. "Though you didn't answer. Have I ever been wrong about people?" he grinned. Kim only growled.

* * *

Wade and Olivia both walked slowly through the halls of Sanctuary before coming to a bench. Wade stepped out of the way of a passerby as Olivia took a seat, smiling up at him. "Have you liked what you've seen?"

He caught himself staring back and quickly looked at the floor, putting his hands in his pockets and digging his toe into the polished tile. "Yeah! I mean, kinda. I mean, this place is really, er..."

Olivia giggled slightly, tapping the area of the bench beside her. Other than Kim and Joss, Wade had barely even seen a woman in person and was suddenly feeling flushed and queasy. Nervously, he took the seat next to her, placing his hands rigidly on his lap. "I wish you could stay." she whispered, placing a hand on his.

Wade's eyes suddenly darted to the sudden warmth of Olivia's hand on his. "I do too..." he said hesitantly. "But Kim needs me. The world needs all of us." he stated, then turned to look into Olivia's aquamarine eyes. "But it actually seems safe here. It's nice to see people that are so happy."

Olivia immediately looked away and her smile faded. With a suddenly tired sigh, she stood and moved away a few paces before turning back to Wade. "Yes. Walter has done his best to help the people of Sanctuary. To keep us all safe from Drakken. Sometimes... that's required some difficult decisions. And..."

"And your friends are looking for you, Wade." Walter said, placing his hands on Olivia's shoulders, causing her to flinch in surprise. "Please..." he continued, gesturing down the hall. Wade stepped by the siblings, smiling and nodding to Olivia as he did, and continued down the hall. Olivia began to follow, but Walter clamped a hand down on her shoulder. "It seems Wade's friends are getting eager to go." he whispered. "You have to help me persuade them to stay just a little longer."

Olivia shook off his hands from her shoulders. "Walter, these are good people! I don't want to be a part of this!"

"Neither do I." Walter replied, turning Olivia to face him. "Kim Possible is the best. She always has been. In time, she'll see that this is the only way that Sanctuary... that the world can be saved." he argued, his face taking on a red hue as he bit out the words. "It's for the greater good, Olivia."

Reluctantly, she nodded and Walter smiled. "The greater good..."

* * *

Joss made her way through the clean and tidy halls of Sanctuary with Rufus on her shoulder, keeping a sharp eye on their surroundings. She smiled politely to the denizens of the underground city as she passed them, and felt somehow awkward amongst so many people. The last three of her years had been spent in a large complex with four other people and a rodent, and the two before that had been as an undercover GJ agent that had left her with memories of questionable deeds that she hadn't shared with anyone. Needless to say, her attempts at sarcasm and humor had pushed her away from most people they had come across outside of Kim's team. She sighed, suddenly aware of her loneliness when a small black and white form sitting on the floor and propped up against the wall caught her attention. "Is that what I think it is?" she asked herself.

The stuffed toy resembled a half panda, half kangaroo with large yellow feet and a penguin-like physique. Joss picked the stuffed toy up in her hands and gave it a playful squeeze while looking into its sad eyes. "Well how did you get out here, Pandaroo?" she asked. Predictably, the stuffed toy didn't answer. "You look just like the one cousin Kim used to have."

As Joss continued to inspect the toy, Rufus dropped from her shoulder and scurried down her tight fitting GJ uniform. He continued down the hall and past a few more doors, sniffing the air and twitching his whiskers. Suddenly, he began chittering wildly and pointing at a door that seemed out of place with a high security electronic lock rather than a typical doorknob.

"What'd you find, Rufus?" Joss asked, placing the Pandaroo back where she had found it. As she approached the door that Rufus was pointing at, her eye was drawn to the keypad and security card combination that was keeping the door closed. "Well ain't that a kick between the chaps. Walter said..." she began, then smiled and waved at a passerby as she leaned against the door. "... that we'd have access to all the rooms." she continued, pulling out a small syringe looking tool. While capturing a synthodrone was difficult, the technology they were based upon was relatively simple to mimic. As Joss stabbed the card lock and pushed down on the plunger of the syringe, a purple fluid coursed through the keypad, displaying the proper key code and matching the correct magnetic frequency to open the lock. A soft tone sounded and Joss pushed the door open, feeling Rufus climb up to her shoulder again.

Inside the darkened storage room were at least two dozen barrels with familiar blue symbols decalled on. "Rufus..." Joss said in shock. "These symbols are from those synthodrone memory banks we captured." Rufus gasped, holding his paws to his cheeks. "I reckon this looks like the Styx phase of Project New World Order! We'd better tell Kim." she said, turning to exit. The sound of a capacitor charging drew her attention to a large purple and black form looming in the doorway before a blast hit them both, turning their world a hazy white.

* * *

Olivia caught up to Wade, taking his hand in hers and looking around nervously. "Wade, I have to tell you something."

Surprised, Wade immediately tried to calm her by placing his other hand on her shoulder. "What's wrong?"

"You..." she began hurriedly. "Your friends. You're all..."

"Leaving." Walter said, seemingly coming out of nowhere and stepping between Wade and Olivia with a wicked smile. "And there's nothing else we can do to change their minds." Wade cast a confused glance at Olivia, who only looked away and tired to hide that she was wiping her cheeks with her hand.

Walter quickly herded them back toward the control room and as the door slid open, Kim and Ron turned, casting a suspicious look at Olivia before turning their attention to Walter. "Last chance, Kim." he said.

Kim smiled, but shook her head. "I'm sorry, Walter. But I can't let the people that are still up there suffer under Drakken's New World Order. That being said, I think it's time we head back to the surface."

"Completely understandable, Kim." Walter replied. He moved to a console on the wall and adjusted a number of dials. "Sanctuary has a number of exit passages that can still be used in case of an emergency."

"What about Joss and Rufus?" Ron asked as Wade took a position next to Kim, still staring with a frown at Olivia, who refused to meet his gaze.

Walter turned and smiled, causing Ron to hold up a hand to block the view. "On their way." As if on cue, the door's buzzer rang and Walter touched the opening mechanism. "That's probably them now."

The control room door slid open and Joss was forced in by a synthodrone that was followed by a dozen others. The young woman was holding her forehead with one hand and grasping a still unconscious naked mole rat in the other as the synthodrone held her back, away from the rest of her team. "Joss! What happened?!" Kim asked, her gaze turning toward Walter as he stood against the wall, unsurprised.

A shimmer in the air in the center of the control room formed into a head and torso image of Lord Drakken and he grinned. "Haven't you learned yet, Kim Possible?" Drakken laughed. "I control the world now, and you are alone. You always did trust too easily, and now you will pay the price."

"So the transmission we intercepted..." Wade began.

"Was deliberate." Drakken grinned.

"My bad." Wade admitted, grinning nervously.

"Wait a cotton pickin' second! You set this up?!" Joss asked, glaring at Walter.

Walter returned the glare. "I did what I had to, to provide safety for the people that trust me. Sanctuary is safe, but only in exchange for our utilities."

Ron turned to Kim and was about to say something, but she silenced him with a finger. "You, not a word." She then turned to Walter. "And you... you produce more than you need and sell the excess to the man who destroyed the world? You're just as bad as Drakken."

Walter's grin faded and he suddenly looked hurt, as though ashamed. "He did it for the world. All of our people were at stake. Our way of..." Olivia argued.

"We've heard it before, Olivia." Wade said, shooting her a glare and crossing his arms.

"Enough chit chat!" Drakken shouted. "Synthodrones, prepare them for digitization." he ordered, grinning at Walter. "All of them."

The first synthodrone placed a large hand on Joss's shoulder and Rufus leaped to life, landing on the synthodrone's face and sinking his incisors into its husk. The synthodrone quickly covered its face with its hands in an attempt to cover the wound and Rufus leaped into Ron's waiting hands. Kim and Wade drew their energy pistols, gunning down the remaining synthodrones inside the room before they could react. Joss shoved Walter to the side and slapped her palm against the door control, trapping one synthodrone in the entry way until the door sliced it cleanly in two.

A flash of flickering light and crashing thunder filled the room as Kim and her team activated their battle suits, drowning out Drakken's protests as he watched helplessly. Ron placed Rufus into his newly formed robotic body, then turned to face the door, his blue aura blazing to life. Closing his eyes, he almost seemed to dance as a shimmer of light gathered in his hands and he thrust his palm at the door. The resulting explosion of sudden air displacement blew the door outward, crushing several synthodrones against the other side of the hall. Kim charged out, firing her pistol into several synthodrones that hadn't been caught behind the door. "Let's jet!" she ordered, grabbing Walter by the shirt before he could escape. "You're coming with us, Nelson."

Drakken watched in frustration as the last of Kim Possible's team escaped the control room. "Gah! They didn't remove their weapons?!" he growled. "Shego!"

* * *

"Okay, Dr. D? If you're gonna be talking in my head, you're gonna have to keep the yelling to a minimum, alright?" Shego retorted, looking down the length of a rocky tunnel.

Drakken began stumbling over his words. For five years now he had been surrounded by fanatically loyal henchmen, and now Shego had come along. He lowered his voice. "She's there, Shego. Kim Possible. You remember? The girl that humiliated you with an easy defeat shortly before her father caused your death. A death I was able to reverse, I might add."

"You want a medal?" Shego asked defensively.

"I want you to hurt her. Like she hurt you. Digitize them all, but deliver her to me."

A grin played at Shego's metallic black lips and she suddenly became a blur, kicking up dust and ash as she raced down the lava tube toward the underground complex.

* * *

"Move it, Walter!" Kim ordered, dragging the man along the hallway by the shirt. A synthodrone turned the corner and Kim reflexively pulled the trigger on her pistol, blowing a smoking hole through its chest and continuing on without flinching.

"You don't understand!" Walter pleaded. "If you go with Drakken, he may let us live!"

"You willing to bet Sanctuary on Drakken's mercy?" Kim asked, suddenly stopping. "Wait, of course you are. You already did."

"Don't you see, Kim?" Walter asked. "If you're digitized, you can destroy him from the inside!"

Barely keeping her anger in check, Kim instead turned to Olivia. "You must have an evacuation procedure. Alert the people."

"Olivia..." Walter said, turning to his sister with a look of horror. Kim pushed him aside. "Noooo!"

Olivia hesitated for only a moment before bringing her wrist communicator to her lips. "Attention citizens of Sanctuary! Emergency evacuation procedures have begun. Please proceed to the nearest emergency exit immediately. Lord Drakken's troops have entered the complex. I repeat..." suddenly the sound of panicked screams could be heard echoing through the halls.

"You probably could have left out that last part." Ron commented, moving past the group to the next corner.

"Kim!" Joss said, stopping on her way by. "Rufus and I found some barrels like we found in the abandoned base awhile back. Looks like this place is a part of Drakken's Styx program."

Kim frowned, knowing immediately what had to be done. "Thanks, Joss. Get back to the Kepler and help evacuate." she said, then turned to Olivia. "I need to know how to overload the geothermal plant."

Olivia stared at her in disbelief and suddenly Walter was trying to wedge himself between them again. "Olivia, no! It'll destroy Sanctuary! Our way of life!" Finally, Kim rolled her eyes and quieted Walter with a quick punch to his mouth, scattering teeth and knocking him back to sit on the floor in a heap. "You broge my teef!" he pouted, staring down at the red and white bits on the floor.

"Olivia!" Kim shouted, shaking the girl out of her sudden shock. "It's over. Drakken has no further use for you or Sanctuary. If you don't come with us, you'll all be killed... or worse. Your way of life was destroyed a long time ago."

Olivia nodded. "Alright, I'll show you."

"Wade, Rufus, go with her. Ron, help Joss evacuate. I'll get Walter back to the Kepler." Kim said, dragging Walter to his feet. "Let's go."

* * *

It was nearly ten minutes later that Wade, Rufus, and Olivia reached the maintenance hatch to the geothermal reactor. "You can access the power plant controls from here." Olivia informed the two soldiers, pointing to a manhole looking hatch embedded in the floor of an industrial looking section of Sanctuary. A direct contrast to the rest of the complex, this section had immense cables and venting that quickly became concealed as they fed power and heat to other districts. "Only Walter has the access codes though!"

Wade took a breath, opening the flap on his gauntlet and activating his tool kit. "Check on the evacuation. This might take a few..." Before he could finish his sentence, Rufus moved to the hatch and dug the powerful hands of his robot body around the hatch and pulled it free in a spray of sparks. "Okaay..." Wade said, ducking to the side as the hatch was tossed over his head. He looked down the long crawl way as Olivia activated her wrist communicator again. "I guess I'll have to crawl down there, deactivate the fails safes and set the..."

Rufus pulled two thermite grenades from the magnetic bandolier that crossed diagonally over his robot body's chest as Wade was speaking, interrupting him with the sound of a resonating ping from each cylinder. Wade watched as the two explosives fell silently down the hole. "Why did I even come this way?" Wade asked, looking up at Rufus. The robot body shrugged as a deafening shockwave erupted from the broken hatchway. "I give it ten minutes before every volcano in a one hundred mile radius blows its top. How's that evac?"

"Nearly complete. Looks like it's just us left!" Olivia replied.

"Good, let's go!" Wade ordered.

* * *

Ron dodged energy blasts as he raced down the halls, attracting as many of the synthodrones as he could away from Joss and the evacuees into following him instead. He rounded a corner to find another group of synthetics and let out a loud whistle. The two dozen synthodrones turned their heads in perfect synchronization and leveled their rifles. Ron waved and smiled, vanishing around the corner of the hall as quickly as he had appeared and the group of synthodrones that had been chasing him crossed the hall as the second group filled the area with energy. Synthodrones began exploding, then returning fire.

Ron peeked back around from the next corner and chuckled. "That was even easier than I thought it would be..." As he turned away from the carnage, a small form on the floor caught his eye and he picked up a familiar black and white stuffed toy. Tilting his head to the side slightly, he smiled down at the sad, lonely eyes of the Pandaroo.

* * *

Kim and Walter rounded a corner on their way toward the emergency exit nearest the Kepler. The path had been clear so far, with Ron being heard racing through the maze of hallways and taunting the army of synthodrones that he had collected behind him. Without notice, a green blast of energy tore apart the corner Kim had just passed, knocking her against the opposite wall in surprise. She pushed Walter behind her instinctively to protect him and shielded her face from the shrapnel with her gauntlet. Kim scanned the end of the hall with her targeting reticle, trying to identify her opponent through the smoke and debris, but the only word that appeared was UNKNOWN.

"You lose, Princess!" came the familiar voice. The blazing green hands began to shine through the smoke and Kim spun back behind what was remaining of the corner. "Last time we met, you had a bit of an upgrade. Now it's my turn!"

"Shego?" Kim whispered to herself. "A synthomech?"

"Don't you see, Kim?" Walter said. "That should have been you!"

"Shut up and let me think." Kim replied, trying to listen to Shego's movements.

"You could fight Drakken's programming. Be immortal, like Shego is. Indestructible. Wait until he's weak and then destroy him with his own technology!" Walter's eyes had glazed over somewhat and he was grinning maniacally. "You could save the world this time!"

"This time?!" Kim asked angrily. Before she knew what Walter was planning, he had already stepped out from behind the corner of the wall and was facing Shego. "Walter!"

"Shego, help me!" he pleaded. "They're going to destroy Sanctuary. You've got to stop her!"

With an evil smile, Shego pointed her arm at Walter and the digitization weapon popped out from her forearm. "Oh, I intend to." Walter skidded to a stop, horrified. Panicking, he tried to scramble away before his body began to break down into digital pixels and compress into a stream of data. His scream became a piercing tone of static until he finally disappeared into the lens of the digitization weapon. "Mmm... that felt good." Shego stated with a grin as the weapon retracted back into her forearm.

Shego's presence meant a few things to Kim. One was that Drakken's Charon phase had been at least a partial success, and he now had at least two synthomechs under his command. Secondly, it meant that Josh Mankey hadn't been exaggerating. Drakken had the capability to bring people that had been digitized out in a number of forms. It was a bittersweet development as Erik had been enough of an ongoing difficulty and yet the concept of being able to force Drakken into reestablishing all of the lives he had stolen gave Kim a shimmer of renewed hope.

"What's the matter, Kimmie?" Shego taunted, carefully moving forward toward the corner that Kim was hiding behind. "Gotten too old for witty banter?"

"Not likely, Shego!" Kim shouted into the hall, eyeing the corner she needed to reach that would lead her to the Kepler. "Just shocked at your new look. How long before the botox lets you show emotion?" she smirked. The myonetic systems in her battle armor charged and she began to lunge down the hall, firing her pistol rapidly into Shego's chest.

Shego took each shot with a minimum of impact and clasped her hands together, charging a massive bolt of green plasma. She fired it into Kim's chest plate, and slammed her into the wall at the end of the hall. The plaster cracked as Kim left an impression, then fell face first onto the floor, dropping her pistol before rolling around the corner that she had been trying to reach. "You're running?!" Shego laughed, running toward the corner Kim had disappeared behind. "I guess you really were never in my league!" she shouted.

Turning the corner with hands full of energy, Shego met the angry eyes of Kim as her battle armor's charged gauntlet struck her in the face three times before Shego's head snapped back. Before Shego even began her descent to the floor, Kim followed through with an uppercut with her other hand that lifted Shego off of her feet.

Shego's vision blurred to static for a moment and she stared up at the ceiling from her prone position. She lifted a hand to her face, feeling the normally nearly smooth hexes that made up her features rearrange themselves back to their normal positions. Even with her new body, she was feeling pain reminiscent of their last battle in the Buenos Nachos Headquarters. She shook her head and performed a kip up to her feet. Kim was gone, but she knew where the flame haired heroine was heading.

* * *

"Kim!" Joss shouted from the top of a ladder as Kim crossed the threshold between Sanctuary and the rocky tunnel. "This place is about to get a whole lot hotter!"

Rufus stood at the bottom of the ladder, too heavy and bulky to climb with his robot body. "Everyone is clear, Kim." came the methodical electronic voice of Rufus' translator.

"Not quite." Kim said with a grimace as a green plasma blast streaked over her head. She dove into a series of hand springs as another volley of Shego's blasts followed her into the tunnel. "Rufus, I need your battle suit!"

Shego raced into the escape tunnel in time to see Kim disappear through a top hatch and a heavy suit of armor that was standing at the base of a ladder. Whoever it was, was now in her way and Shego grabbed the bulky armor by the shoulder and spun it around, drawing back and energizing a hand.

Her smile faded when she saw that the face plate was open and a tiny empty cockpit was all that was in the helmet. Her eyes then widened at the tiny digital timer situated behind the empty chair. She looked up to see the naked mole rat grin and give a crisp salute before the hatch was closed. "KIIMM!"

* * *

Kim watched the volcano continue to erupt from a distance as she stood, back in her GJ uniform. Their hasty retreat had kept them from securing the passengers properly, and she had ordered Joss to set down at a safe distance in order to take stock of their situation. Sanctuary had collapsed, caving in the volcano it was hidden beneath, but with it went another part of Drakken's Styx phase of his project New World Order, as well as another major power generator. They had promised Olivia and the Sanctuary refugees transport to the Passages. It wasn't the luxury that Sanctuary had, but at least it was safe. She felt Joss step up beside her, but she kept watching the chain of explosions spew molten rock over the desert in the night sky. "How are our guests?" she asked.

"Pretty shaken up. But they'll survive." Joss said quietly. "Still think the world's worth saving, Kim?"

Kim cast her younger cousin a sideways glance. "Why not?"

"Well, half of the people we try to save try to either kill us, or simply don't want saved." Joss said with a frown.

"People are scared. They've lost hope in all the good things in the world and it'll take time to show them that we represent a chance at making things better." Kim explained.

"I guess." Joss said, watching the glowing embers of magma arc through he sky. "Think we stopped Shego?"

"Must've." Kim said without hesitation. Joss raised an eyebrow and shook her head. "You don't think so either?"

"Shego versus a volcano?" Joss asked, turning toward the Kepler. She spotted Ron holding the pandaroo she had found earlier, waiting for their conversation to end.

Kim sighed. "I've got a feeling this war just took a real bad turn, Joss."

"Chin up, Kim." Joss replied with a smile before walking away to be replaced by Ron.

"Hey Ron." Kim smiled.

"Another success, Kim." Ron said, returning the smile. "Kepler's almost overloaded with people we're bringing to safety."

"Yeah."

Ron looked at her with curiosity and confusion. "I found something in Sanctuary that you might like." he said, holding out the cuddle buddy.

Kim looked down at the stuffed toy with the sad eyes with feigned disinterest, but not moving toward it. "It's probably..."

"One of the refugees toys?" Ron finished for her. "No one will lay claim to it."

"Then it's obviously a..."

"Trap? It was. Had Wade check it out. Had a burned out surveillance system in it that he replaced with some more stuffing." Ron explained, pushing it toward her again.

"Burned out?" she asked, taking it in her hands and feeling the soft fleece fur. She hadn't been able to collect anything from her home on prom night other than her mother and brothers. She dismissed the question after a moment of no explanation from Ron. "Thanks, Ron." Kim smiled, rubbing noses with the toy.

* * *

Shego strode into Drakken's throne room, glaring at his back as he oversaw a number of view screens that were being holographically displayed into the air. "Drakken!" she shouted in rage.

Drakken turned, the red light in his mechanical eye dilating in response to her form. "It's Lord Drakken, Shego."

Shego's hands erupted in green flame as she stepped toward him and moved to swipe her clawed hand across his chest. But with blinding speed, his mechanical arm caught her wrist and he narrowed his natural eye at her. Shego stared at Drakken's hand as it continued to clamp around her wrist and she tried to pull away. "You sent me to die, Drakken!"

"I thought you could handle one group of power rangers. My mistake." he replied, releasing her wrist. Shego looked down at her arm and the imprints of Drakken's mechanical fingers. "Besides, you came back, didn't you?" he asked, turning his back on her to face his view screens again.

Shego continued to stare at her hand for a moment before the green flame died out. "So, now what?"

"We wait." Drakken said in irritation. "Kim Possible will make another mistake soon, and when she does... you will be ready."


	8. Intrusion

**Intrusion**

"Aw! Why do we have to pack this heavy stuff?" Ron whined, setting a crate of medical supplies and foodstuffs down on the floor of the Kepler near the ships exit ramp.

"Because, Ron." Kim said with a smile. "Joss is out doing recon up north, and Wade needs to finish putting Rufus's battle suit code back together. Just be glad Joss was happy to take a skyscooter instead of the Kepler, or we'd be hauling this stuff in saddlebags." Kim opened the door and the ramp lowered like a drawbridge before it extended to the dusty ground.

Six people waited at the bottom of the ramp, looking haggard and dressed in simple, torn clothing. "Thanks again, Captain. These medical supplies will come in handy this winter." said an older gentleman of a stocky stature.

Kim dismissed it with a smile, handing a crate to an older native man dressed in a simple red robe. "It's no big, Professor Icari. I just wish it could be more." The crates were spread out until everyone had one, and Kim climbed down the ramp to follow the professor. "Come on, Ron. Let's give them a hand."

Ron set the last crate down on the ground with a grunt, closing the Kepler's ramp behind him and listening for the locking mechanism to click into place. He lifted the crate again and followed Kim, letting out a frightful whine with each step as he passed an old, burned down log sign that announced the area as Kamp Kwitch-something.

* * *

Grimm Probable laid next to his best friend, Rhonda Fatigable, and watched through a set of binoculars as the blond man in a black uniform closed the door to the heavily armored shuttle that he and Captain Possible had flown here in. "Is that food they're bringing out?" Rhonda asked, hopeful.

"Looks like medicines, mostly." Grimm replied. He handed the binoculars to Rhonda and shook his head. His auburn hair had been trimmed down to stubble, and he scratched the day old beard that adorned his face in thought. "These people aren't even contributing to the war. I don't know why Possible bothers."

"Can we get this over with?" Rhonda asked, shivering. "This place gives me the creeps."

Grimm pulled out the communicator from his pocket and smiled. "Let's just hope that this little program that Jade cooked up does the trick." he said, climbing to a crouched position. The camouflaged long jacket he wore over his black military fatigues dragged in the dust as he prepared to move towards the Kepler. "If you see them coming, give me a shout."

Rhonda smiled up at him. "Got your back, GP." She watched as Grimm set his jaw and crept quietly from their hiding place toward the Kepler, placing his back against the hull. He attached a set of electrodes to the control mechanism of the ship's door, and then linked the cables to his communicator.

"Show time, Jade." Grimm whispered as a seventeen year old Japanese woman with faded green striped dread locks appeared on the screen. Without a word, her fingers flew over the multitude of keyboards before her.

Rhonda continued to watch the makeshift shelter that Kim had delivered the crates to and yawned in boredom until the red haired Captain emerged with the blond man in tow. The group of refugees followed the black uniformed pair out. While Rhonda couldn't hear what they were saying, she provided herself with a guess.

"Thank you, Kim Possible. You're so awesome!" Rhonda whispered to herself in an old man voice as the professor spoke to Kim.

"I know, Professor." Rhonda said, mimicking the female Captain's voice. "I'm a lame-o hero. Would you like all of our weaponry as well? We won't be using it."

"Really? Why don't you give it to Team Probable instead?" Rhonda asked, watching the dark skinned woman with the sleeveless shirt gesture, as though asking Kim a question.

Kim seemed to dismiss the comment and smiled modestly. "Nah! I think we'll just continue to hoard it in our hidden base, watch TV, and keep looking awesome in our pansy clean uniforms while eating food that all of you people are missing out on." Rhonda whispered, her stomach growling.

"Alrighty, then." she filled in for the voices of the group of people. "Laterz!" Kim and Ron waved to the group and turned, walking back toward the Kepler. Rhonda gasped, fumbling with her radio. "GP! Get out of there!"

Grimm covered the radio receiver in his ear and swore under his breath. "We've almost got it." he whispered. "Jade?"

"Got it, G-Man. But someone's homing in on your comm signal! I'm cutting the..." Jade alerted him, but Grimm cut the connection himself. He popped the electrodes off of the lock and the entry ramp lowered and extended, allowing him to jump through. Kim Possible and her companion could be heard approaching, and Grimm slapped the door's control to close it.

Despite the size of the ship, the cockpit was surprisingly small and Grimm narrowed his eyes for a suitable hiding place.

Kim placed her hand on the hidden palm print and couldn't help but smile as she pressed down, feeling a tiny tickle in her palm as the scanner sampled her DNA. Even a victory as small as making the lives of people that chose to remain among the ruins a little easier brought a warm feeling. While it was sobering to know that this was what the world was reduced to, Kim and her team took encouragement from whatever they could. The entry ramp lowered and extended, allowing Kim and Ron to climb inside. "Better call the others and let them know we're on our way back." she told Ron, closing the door behind them.

"Sure thing, KP." Ron replied, sitting down in Joss's pilot seat.

"Uh, what are you doing?" Kim asked, looking over at him in confusion.

"I've been watching Joss a bit." he said. "And I do have some former experience with piloting, y'know."

"You crashed the Ferret Jet." Kim said dryly, placing her hand on the back of the pilot seat.

"Yeah." Ron admitted. "But any crash you can walk away from is called a landing."

"If I recall, you passed out. Then Mr. North nearly wrung your neck when he found out."

"Okay, fine. I'm calling dibs on the seat, then. Hah!"

Kim rolled her eyes, sliding into the copilot's seat where Ron usually sat. "Just don't use the Quantum, okay?"

Ron grinned, going through the startup sequence that he'd seen Joss do more than a dozen times. He activated the Kepler's VTOL thrusters and slowly pushed the secondary throttle forward. The ship lurched forward and up slightly, the nose beginning to dive. He frowned, pulling back on the control yoke in an effort to level it out. That's weird..." he whispered to himself. The Kepler refused to level and instead began to list to the side, bending and cracking a path through the torched trees. "Uh, Ron?"

"I'm trying!" he shouted, feeling suddenly embarrassed and beginning to panic as the shuttle began to pick up speed in its sideways movement.

Kim calmly placed her hand over his on the control yoke and pushed the primary throttle smoothly forward with her thumb and forefinger while decreasing the secondary throttle that controlled the maneuvering thrusters with her last two fingers. "It works kinda like a helicopter in VTOL mode." Kim said with a smile. The Kepler began moving forward again, its nose brushing the tops of the remaining trees before leveling out and rising into the sky. "You need to keep an eye on your secondary throttle. It acts like your torque until the main engine is engaged." she said, sitting back down in the co pilots seat.

Ron was feeling both embarrassed and exhilarated. He was certainly used to not getting new skills on his first try like Kim seemed to do, but had wished he had been given an opportunity for lessons before nearly crashing their primary mode of transportation in front of Kim. But as he pulled on the yoke and the ship rose into the air, a satisfied grin spread across his face. "Check me, KP. The Ron man is airborne!"

"And flying straight home, too. I'm impressed." Kim smiled back. "Just let me know when you're ready to land."

"Land?!" Ron asked, hesitation creeping into his voice.

* * *

Rhonda cringed as Kim Possible's ship rose off of the ground, then began to plow through the forest, spinning and sliding to the side. She looked away and grit her teeth, fearing the worst until she could hear the ship's main thruster ignite. The rockets rotated, and the air became eerily silent once again.

"Too dangerous..." Rhonda said to herself with a sigh. "I'll go in, get the battlesuit shematics, and get out. You just watch my back and hold down the fort." she continued, reiterating Grimm's explanation of the mission to herself as she sat down in what was left of the burned out forest beside a large, misshapen rock that seemed to have been knocked down the height of a nearby hill. "Admit it, Grimm." she said with a sigh. "I'd just be getting in the way."

A brown furred ferret slinked out of her pack and chittered, rubbing the bottom of Rhonda's chin with his head. "Hey Ruefel." she smiled, scratching the animal's thin belly as he turned over in her lap. "You trust me, don't you?"

The ferret nodded and smiled for a moment, then went suddenly rigid as his ears perked up.

* * *

Drakken grinned, watching the holographic viewscreen that was projected before him. The image that it showed was being beamed from one of his near invisible spy drones. The synthodrone was far weaker and less robust than a typical trooper, but was able to take on the appearance of its surroundings. At the moment, the video was of a suddenly alerted and frightened blond woman and her pet ferret. "Rewind." Drakken ordered, and the image reversed a half hour, showing a young auburn haired man that had the tough look of a resistance fighter. He leaped into Kim Possible's modified rocket shuttle and closed the door before Kim and the buffoon arrived. "So... it seems Kimberly-Anne's security isn't as impenetrable as it seems. Shego!"

Shego looked up from inspecting her glassy black and green claws when Drakken shouted her name. "I'm sorry, what?" she asked. She didn't say it just to get a rise out of him like she would have before, but rather her attention was genuinely focused on her good as new mechanical body. She had been buried beneath an erupting volcano and nearly destroyed a week before, yet she now stood in Drakken's throne room, unscathed.

Drakken glared at her, his mechanical eye dilating its red gleaming pupil as he wrestled with the decision to bother giving a retort. Instead, he pointed at the viewscreen that held a still image of Grimm Probable. "Find this man. He undoubtedly now knows where Kim Possible's base is."

Shego looked up at the holographic image with slight confusion. "But if he's at Kimmie's base, and we don't know where that is, how am I supposed to find him?"

The image on the viewscreen sped forward. "The way to a man's mind is through his heart, Shego. Get creative." he grinned, staring once again into the frightened eyes of Rhonda Fatigable.

* * *

Grimm had been on the verge of holding his breath as he listened to Kim and Ron talk just outside of the elevator he had been hiding in for the last hour. Most of what had been said had little relevance to their team or missions; much to Grimm's disappointment, but instead contained talk between two old friends with a subtle tension that he couldn't pin down.

Ron had touched the Kepler down a little too hard, resulting in squeals from the man, a bout of friendly laughter from Kim, and some hot headed yelling from another female voice over the radio. Remarkably, however, the shuttle was landed and spun, presumably to face in the same direction it approached and after Ron was able to get his breathing under control, Grimm heard the entry ramp open. "That was a good landing, Ron. I'm impressed."

"I could have done without Joss yelling." Ron replied. "Just because she's the regular pilot, doesn't mean it's actually her ship."

"It's not like you're not protective of your skyscooter." Kim said, poking fun. Their voices trailed off and Grimm waited a few moments more to press the control that would open the elevator.

The door whooshed open and Grimm cautiously stepped back into the Kepler's cockpit, surveying the area. He knew that the ship had at one time been designed as a hypervelocity space shuttle, built at the Middleton Space Center. Seeing and feeling it maneuver through the air told him it was anything but. The internal modifications had made the cockpit cluttered and inefficient since it had never meant to be a combat vessel. Grimm had to duck as he climbed the short set of stairs into the forward section of the cockpit and he glanced out of the forward viewport. Across the immense, mostly empty hangar that held the Kepler, he spotted Kim and Ron exiting through a heavy sliding door. He could hear no more voices in the hangar, and moved to the open entry ramp of the ship, activating the communicator. A quick scan revealed that the security in the hangar was mediocre at best, and Grimm furrowed his brow. Shoddy camera coverage and a pressure sensitive floor was all that his sensor suite found in the hangar, and he shook his head in disbelief. This was the greatest that the human resistance had to offer?

* * *

The glowing inner light of Hephaestus floated toward the edge of the constructs glass sphere that made up its body as Drakken entered the containment room. "Despite setbacks in the Charon phase, Project New World Order proceeds on schedule!" Drakken announced with a grin.

Hephaestus seemed to hesitate a moment before its deep, haunting voice reverberated through the large empty room. "Captain Possible remains a threat to our plans, Lord Drakken."

"Kim Possible has made her last mistake. Her complacency has allowed an intruder to locate her secret base. Once he is found, Ms. Possible will no longer be a problem. Shego is on her way..." Drakken explained, pacing back and forth in front of the pivoting orb.

"Why Shego?" Hephaestus asked calmly.

"What?" Drakken asked in surprise. He stopped pacing, staring at the glowing glass ball.

"Why not both Shego and Erik?" it asked.

Drakken stammered slightly. "Erik is tracking a resistance cell in India. Shego can handle one human being." Drakken said in irritation.

"You have feelings for this synthomech." Hephaestus stated. "Compassion will make you weak."

Drakken's metal jaw hung open in shock and embarrassment. "Wha... I... No." he said, stiffening his posture. "Shego is a machine. A servant. A tool. Nothing more." he continued hurriedly. "Rest assured that my goal for world domination has not wavered. Erik will be meeting her shortly."

"There is little room for emotion, Lord Drakken. Remember this." Hephaestus said as Drakken turned toward the door. He paused a moment, as though to reply, then continued to exit. The blast door slid open and closed as he passed and a stout, red and black mechanical being stood in the hall, its glowing yellow eyes shining in the dim light.

"What do you want?!" Drakken snapped.

Dementor seemed to smile, despite his lack of mobile facial features. "I am zimply waiting to be zerving, Lord Drakken."

Drakken eyed him suspiciously. "And who exactly do you serve now, Dementor?"

The short synthetic's eyes flickered for a moment, as though blinking. The yellow vocalizer that made up the lower half of Dementor's face strobed as he spoke. "Ze Synthetic Empire, ov courze. You do az well, no?"

Drakken glared at Dementor, but said nothing. Instead, he turned and strode away, passing a synthodrone in the hall as he did. Dementor watched Drakken until he was out of sight and the door to the containment room slid open. "Enter." came the disembodied voice from within.

"Ov courze." Dementor acknowledged. He stepped through and the door closed quietly behind him.

* * *

"Ron doesn't just volunteer to learn new things, Wade. Trust me. He's trying to impress her." Joss said across to Wade as they chatted in the GJ base control room. Her sock feet were perched up on the desk and she was slouching in the ergonomic military chair with her arms behind her head. The sleeves of her uniform were tied around her waist and her battle suit blueprint was all that covered her torso; a gold undersuit with black lines that resembled a circuit board.

"Kim and Ron have been friends since either of them can remember, Joss. They're like oil and water. The chances of them becoming more than best friends without an external influence is extremely improbable." Wade answered, not bothering to look up from his monitor.

"That's why I'm the outside influence!" Joss replied, spinning in her chair. "Besides, why bother saving the world if it's got no place for you?" Suddenly, Joss stopped spinning and looked up at the holographic projector situated in the center of the pentagonal desk. "What do you think, Uncle James?"

The image of Dr. Possible fizzled into existence above the projector. "Got a question, Joss?" he said with a smile.

"You think Kim and Ron should hook up?" she asked plainly.

"Uh..."

Grimm raised his eyebrows as he listened to the conversation from his place near the entrance to the control room. Jade had attained all information she could about Kim Possible's team from before Drakken's information blackout and Grimm had studied them relentlessly. He'd had no idea that Kim's little cousin had grown so bold, though. The Diablo War had changed a lot of people, his own team included; but to ask a woman's father if her and her best friend should...

"I don't mean to sound like they should get together just because they're the only two consenting adults in this base, but they are!" Joss continued as Wade slowly crept his face closer to his monitor in an effort to ignore the girl.

Realizing he'd gotten about as much information from the two teens as he was likely to get out of eavesdropping, Grimm moved quietly further down the hall. Despite the base's lackluster security, the halls and rooms were quite well kept and clean, with only the odd wall panel removed for what was an undoubtedly ongoing project. From what he could tell, the base was amazingly extensive, with enough room to support an army. Dodging a crew of five seemed almost too easy.

Eventually, Grimm found his way to the hydroponics lab and instantly felt his stomach growl. The lab full of fruit and vegetables was immense, and he took a moment to listen for any occupants before cautiously moving into the room. There were several rows of nutrient baths with vegetables thriving in them and Grimm had to wipe his mouth as he crouched near the back of the lab and removed his pack. While he had long made a habit of leaving no trace of his presence, this opportunity was too good to pass up.

He scanned the nutrient baths for any kind of security or alarms, and after detecting none, he plucked a not quite ripe tomato off of its vine. "Hold on, Rhonda." he whispered, beginning to fill his back with a variety of vegetables. "Lunch is on as soon as I get back."

* * *

Ron entered one of the store rooms that held the group's medical supplies with Rufus lounging on the hovercart that he was pushing. While the base itself was able to synthesize many materials, including processed food and medicines; it took vast amounts of power, recycled material, and time. "Rufus! I told you that you can't go shuffling through this stuff." Ron said as he parked the hovercart just inside the storeroom door. The mole-rat protested with a storm of squeaks and chittering, shaking his head in denial as he gestured to an open crate of supplies. "Rufus, there's only six people in this base, and one of them is stuck in the control room... and doesn't eat or need medicines. Who else could it be?" Ron accused. He lifted a heavy crate onto the hover cart with a grunt and Rufus moved out of the way, letting out a string of raspberry sounds as he crossed his arms. "Yeah, speaking of which, where is the rest of the team?" Rufus shrugged, hopping off of the cart as Ron heaved another crate onto it. The naked mole rat began tossing supplies back into the open crate as Ron continued talking.

"Kim said she was impressed with my piloting this afternoon, Rufus." Ron said, taking a short rest as he sat down on one of the crates. Rufus squeaked a question and Ron seemed to suddenly get defensive. "No! I just think maybe she's noticing I can be useful. More useful, I mean. Better than I used to be, y'know?"

Rufus nodded and shut the lid on the medicine crate, giving a whistle. "I'll sure be happy when your armor's back and I'm not the one packing this stuff." Ron said as he stood, walking over to the crate Rufus had just closed. He lifted it with a grunt and set it on the cart. "Okay buddy, let's get this stuff onto the ship and then hit the sheets. I'm beat!" The naked mole rat climbed up to Ron's shoulder, pointing a tiny clawed finger at the exit of the storage room. Ron heaved a sigh as he started to push the hover cart out of the room.

Grimm dropped from his position on the ceiling, wincing at the tenderness in his shaking legs. He had been taking what medical supplies he could when Ron and the rodent had come in, and he had been forced to climb up the stack of medical crates and use the single sprinkler on the ceiling as an anchor, as well as performing a split to press his feet against the two supports that ran the length of the room. He had been beginning to wonder just how slow Ron could possibly work.

Since the remainder of the medical supplies in the room were now gone, Grimm moved toward the door and came face to face with Ron as he came back into the room. "'Scuse me." Grimm said plainly, brushing past.

"Oh, sorry dude. I... Hey!" Ron shouted, noticing that the man that had just passed him and moved into the hall was unfamiliar. Grimm placed his hands on the handle of the hover cart and pulled, spinning it in a semicircle and releasing it to pin Ron in the door of the storage room. "Rufus! Intruder!" He pushed the cart out of his way and Rufus leaped from his shoulder to the hover cart as it slid across the hall, then to the button on the wall, slapping against it and sounding the alarm. Ron glared down the hall that Grimm had fled, but there was no longer any trace of the man.

"So much for stealth." Grimm whispered to himself as he leaped feet first into a ventilation shaft in the ceiling as he rounded the corner.

* * *

The alarm woke Wade with a start. He found he was still sitting at his desk in the control room. He rubbed his eyes and looked around for Joss, who was nowhere to be found. "Doctor Possible!" he called, beginning to track down the source of the alarm through his computer.

Dr. Possible formed above the desk with a worried look on his face. "What seems to be the problem, Wade? Sounds like an intruder alarm." he said, then looked quizzically down at him. "And why is there lipstick on your cheek?"

Wade rubbed his cheek in confusion, pulling back his hand with smeared lipstick on it. "Wade!" Ron said as he slid down the spiral staircase that led up to the barracks from the control room. Wade jumped at his shout, being pummeled with too many surprises at once. "We've got someone new in the base."

"No kidding." Wade replied, wiping his hand on his pants. "Bringing all security measures online. Doctor Possible, can you make sure Kim and Joss know what's going on?"

"Sure thing, Wade. Anything else?"

Wade's brow furrowed in frustration. "I'm not picking up any foreign DNA in the base. Can you find him?"

"A moment." the hologram said, closing his eyes and whistling. "Oh... looks like he just found Kim!"

* * *

Kim was organizing her room, dressed in a matching set of blue flannel pajamas as she recorded her journal entry. Her hair was unbraided and hanging loosely, nearly to her thighs. The room was relatively small compared to the loft that she had grown up in; with a built in double bed, a desk and chair that folded out of the wall, and an attached bathroom. The GJ base was never meant for long term use and was designed for utility rather than comfort, but the group of five had made it their home nonetheless.

"So anyway, it's like Ron's up to something lately." Kim said into the air as she flopped down on her bed, hugging the cuddlebuddy that her best friend had given her as a souvenir from Sanctuary a few weeks earlier. "Ever since he mastered his Monkey Powers, it's like he's closed off. I guess..." she said with a frown. "I guess letting him fall by the wayside in favor of Erik really hurt him."

Kim poked Pandaroo in the nose playfully. "What do you think, Pandaroo? He sure seemed happy to see Yori. It was nice to see, I guess. I wonder why he didn't stay..." Suddenly, the intruder alarm began blaring and Kim immediately bolted upright and performed a handspring out of bed to land on her bare feet. "Pause Journal. Dad? What's going on?"

A six inch tall hologram of Dr. Possible appeared on her desk. "Intruder, Kimmie-Cub. Seems Ronald ran into someone while loading medical supplies."

Kim spun in surprise. "Is he okay?"

Her dad touched his chin. "Not sure. Wade can't find him. The intruder seems to be evading the DNA processor."

"I don't care whether the intruder's okay, Dad! I care about Ron!"

Doctor Possible chuckled lightly. "Oh! Yes, Ronald's fine, honey." he said, then looked worried for a moment. "Oh, just caught Joss in the shower..."

"Lock down the base, Dad. Tell Wade to ready the self destruct. If it's a synthomech, we may have to blow the whole thing."

"But Kimmie..."

"Do it, Dad!" she ordered. Her eye caught the form of a figure in a long coat rush past her room. Sweeping up her Kimmunicator from her desk, she ran through her doorway. She glared at the retreating man and activated the device in her hand. "Wade, engage the laser grid in Section G, Level Five."

Without warning, a network of red beams shot across the hallway in seemingly random angles and Kim watched as the intruder didn't even slow. He began with a hand spring, then a somersault before vaulting through a narrow passage between the deadly lasers. "Who is this guy?" Kim asked herself, chasing after him. "Lock down the hall, Wade. He's still moving."

Another laser grid appeared ahead of the intruder, this one composed of several beams with openings no larger than a few inches between them. Kim tumbled through the first McHenry grid and crouched, watching the man attempting to find a way through the laser webbing. Realizing the only way out was the way he came, he turned, a smirk playing on his lips. "Just came over for a cup of sugar. Got any?"

"Sorry. All out." Kim replied carefully.

Grimm frowned. "Guess I'll be on my way, then."

Kim narrowed her eyes at him. "I can't let that happen." she said, no hint of sarcasm evident in her voice.

"Then stop me." Grimm replied, circling her on his way to the other laser grid he had just come through. Kim lunged forward and Grimm stepped swiftly to the side, cradled her, then tossed her aside and into the wall. Kim hit the wall on all fours and easily gripped the smooth steel with her bare feet. She flipped away, sending Grimm stumbling back with a kick to his chest before Kim fell to the floor and rolled away from him.

"Composite body armor. Interesting." Kim smiled, flipping to her feet. "Not as nice as mine, though."

"I'll admit that it's not as comfy as the flannel, but I imagine it's a little more protective." Grimm said, raising his eyebrows in mock admiration. "Or are you referring to the battle armor you're not wearing?" For a moment, Kim had forgotten she was lacking her battlesuit's blueprint that she always wore beneath her GJ uniform. The man seemed unarmed though, so Kim dismissed the comment, instead watching as Grimm turned back toward the laser grid.

Kim drew back her arms as she raced forward and began a flurry of strikes as Grimm blocked and evaded, batting her arms to the side while using his elbows to strike at her midsection and shoulders. He ducked low, sweeping Kim's position with an outstretched leg and she leapt over it easily. Following through, Grimm reached out and snatched the loose drawstring from Kim's pajama bottoms, snaking it out with a strong tug. Kim ignored the small distraction, knowing her hips would hold the flannel clothing in place. She came down with an axe kick on Grimm's leg, causing it to buckle and he spun away before standing, favoring the leg Kim had just struck.

Grimm backed away slowly, eyeing the laser grid he had come through. "Forget it. You won't make it through on an injured leg." Kim told him, flashing a victorious smile.

He frowned, readying himself for a tumble back through the web of lasers. As he began to run, Kim leapt forward in an attempt to clothesline him. Instead, Grimm stopped and brandished the drawstring he had taken and looped it around her outstretched wrist. Kim pulled her arm back and Grimm followed, letting her drag him in close as he tightened the loop. She struck out with her other fist and Grimm used her momentum to spin her around and he took hold of her other wrist, forcing her hands together and binding them with the drawstring behind her back. "Not what I was expecting, Possible." he said into her ear from behind her. "Looks like you've been relying a little too heavily on that armor of yours."

"Kim!" Joss shouted, leveling one of her pistols at them both. She was dressed in little more than a towel wrapped around her chest that hung to her knees, and her hair was dripping with water. "Waiting for a shot." she said, focused squarely on Grimm.

Kim brought a foot up beside her own head to catch Grimm in the nose with a kick. His head whipped back with the impact and Kim wrestled forward out of his grip. Grimm dropped and rolled as Joss's shot sailed past his ear, burning the red stubble on the side of his head.

Ron stepped up beside Joss, pushing her weapon to the side before she took another shot. The unfamiliar look of focused determination on his face caused Joss's jaw to gape and as his aura flared to life, she reached out to stop him. "Ron, the grid!" But Ron didn't seem to notice her, or the grid. The beams simply stopped with a sizzle before the laser emitters began to overload and he passed through them without effect.

Grimm reached his feet as Ron zipped forward, gripping his jacket with both hands and glaring into the intruder's eyes. "Well, well... if it isn't Dr. Manhattan himself." Grimm said with a smirk. He could hear the straps on his pack begin to sizzle and pop as Ron pushed him closer to the dense, laser laden grid behind him. "Going to kill me in front of your girlfriend, Stoppable?" Grimm whispered with a knowing smile, staring back into Ron's blue, shining eyes without flinching.

"Ron!" Kim shouted. "Put him down." She stood, jumping straight up and tucking her legs to get her bound wrists in front of her. "I want to know who he is and where he comes from first." she said, looking down at the drawstring and the elaborate knot he was able to tie in such a short time. "What are you, a boy scout?" she asked.

"Something like that." he answered, calmly smoothing out the lapels of his long coat as Ron set him down. He had often heard the odd story about Ron Stoppable, and the Mystical Monkey Powers that Monkey Fist thought should have been his. Though he was impressed at Ron's ability to pass harmlessly through the lethal laser grid, he didn't show a glimmer of it. Instead, he gestured to Joss, who was still standing in her towel with her pistol in one hand and her arms crossed over her chest. "I'm afraid this coat and armor combo is a little warm to be fighting in. Mind?"

Joss lifted an eyebrow and a smirk played at her lips. She moved to undo the towel wrapped around her until Kim turned. "Keep it on, Joss!" she snapped. Kim put her wrists through the small spaces in the laser grid beside her, easily severing the drawstring that still bound her wrists. "Who are you?" she asked, glaring at Grimm, but keeping her distance.

"John Connor." he replied, returning the glare and being clearly unintimidated.

"Try again." Kim said, taking a step closer toward him. Rufus was now at Grimm's feet also, growling up at him and twitching his whiskers.

"Rick Deckard." he answered with a smirk. Kim cocked an eyebrow, creeping in closer and standing next to Ron. "Thomas Anderson?"

"Out of the way, Ron." Joss said, raising her pistol. "I'll scrag him myself."

Kim held out an open hand as a signal for Joss to stay back. "Let's try why you're here." she said with an impatient sigh. Grimm shrugged. "My team's been fighting Drakken... in our own way." he smiled. "We heard about some of the things you've been trying to do, and I figured I'd come and take a peek. See if you were good enough to join us."

"Us join you?" Joss chuckled. "Come on, let me put him out of our misery."

Grimm rolled to the side and toward the wall as Kim and Ron were momentarily distracted by the younger woman. Now, suddenly no longer completely backed into a deathly corner, he matched Joss's laugh. "Sorry. Your Captain's reverence for life is legendary. Why do you think Drakken still keeps humans working for him?" Grimm asked. Joss had raised her pistol, and Kim and Ron turned to face him. "Destroying robots is one thing, Captain." he said, standing stock straight. "But do you really think that's all it's going to take to end this war? Drakken's Synthetic army is limitless. The question is, when the time comes, are you going to be able to destroy him?"

"I'll figure that out when I come to it." Kim replied, her reddening cheeks belying her rising temper.

"You mean like five years ago when you fell for a sack of syntho-goo?" Grim asked. Kim opened her mouth as though to speak, but nothing came out. Grinning, Grimm continued. "I can't help but wonder where we'd all be now if you'd have made some different decisions that night."

Reflexively, Kim's hand went to her collar, where the activation switch for her battle armor would normally have been. Instead, she made a motion as though to scratch her neck, but Grimm knew he had struck a nerve. "Joss, get dressed and meet us in the control room. Ron and Rufus, escort our guest there and wait for us. We'll be showing up with a decision as to what to do with him.

"Will do, KP." Ron replied, catching Grimm by the shoulder of his long coat and shoving him forward. Grimm looked back at Ron for a moment before continuing past Joss, and the sidekick's nickname for Kim instantly sent his thoughts to Rhonda.

* * *

Rhonda sat cross legged in a makeshift shelter that she had set up in the dead forest that she had been waiting in for nearly a day. Grimm hadn't radioed in or returned, and she was beginning to worry. She peeled open a can of army rations, the jell from the mystery meat forming strands that refused to relinquish its grip on the tin lid. Rhonda stuck her tongue out in disgust, fighting back the urge to vomit. "Euack! How does Grimm eat this stuff?" She set the ready to eat meal down in front of Ruefel, who sniffed at the can, then turned away. "I don't blame ya, buddy." she said, pulling the last strip of beef jerky out of her pack and offering half to the ferret.

Ruefel gulped the strip of meat down in two bites of his needle like teeth, then slithered into Rhonda's lap, his tiny stomach rumbling. Rhonda stroked her hand down his back and he let out a sigh. "Grimm will be back soon." she said with a frown. Suddenly, a wet drop fell on the back of her hand and she flinched in surprise, causing Ruefel to jump to attention as well. Another droplet fell on her pant leg, then the thundering sound of falling rain roared outside of her tent. "Aw, are you kidding me?! Rain?" Rhonda grumbled. "Hey, Ruefel, want to see me tempt fate?" she chuckled in mock amusement. "Could this day get any worse?!" she asked into the air with an overly dramatic gesture of her arms. She then grinned down at the ferret, who looked up at her in confusion. "I said it ironically, so I think we're safe." she announced, shortly before a streak of blazing red energy tore through the side of her shelter.

Rhonda froze in panic for a moment as Ruefel slithered his way up and around her shoulders. In the hazy forest scape ahead of her, large black and purple synthodrones began to pour through the burned down trees. "Stay where you are!" one shouted in its deep, electronic voice. For a moment, Rhonda felt compelled to obey with now a dozen synthetics bearing down on her position. Then another energy bolt rang out, and Rhonda was snapped back to reality. She ducked beneath the next shot and began to run, stumbling over logs and winding through the dead forest.

Instinctively, she ran towards the encampment where Captain Possible had dropped off the medical supplies earlier. Whether she believed the people there could help her, she couldn't tell for certain, but there seemed to be something calling her there.

The rain was quickly beginning to soak her blond hair and tan military fatigues as she ran, slowing her steps and weighing her down. Despite the ongoing foot falls of encroaching synthodrones, she slumped against the oddly shaped stone that she and Grimm had hid behind as they were watching Kim. Out of breath, she gasped. "Grimm, where are you?" Ruefel leaped to the top of the rock, reaching down and tugging on Rhonda's sleeve. The rain on her cheeks was becoming warm and salty and she rubbed her blurry eyes with a hand.

Ruefel let out a sharp squeak and leaped into Rhonda's pack as a figure dropped onto the stone where he had been trying to get Rhonda to continue. "Sorry, kiddo. Your friend's not here." came a woman's voice. It was distorted slightly, with an electronic reverberation to it that did little to cover the contempt that she spoke with. Rhonda backed away, and looked up. Standing atop the large stone stood a tall armored figure with hip length black hair that shimmered with green highlights when the lightning flashed overhead. Her face was made up of pale hexes that shifted and flexed as the woman smiled evilly, her glowing green eyes flashing for a moment.

"You... you're Shego?" Rhonda asked hesitantly. With all of her attention on the synthomech above her, she didn't notice the synthodrones catch up to her. Her vision flashed white for a moment as a rifle butt caught her between her shoulder blades, and she shouted in surprise and pain as she dropped to her knees.

"Where's your boyfriend, Barbie?" Shego asked, dropping to the ashen forest floor. "I'm under the impression he knows where Ms. Priss is."

"He's not my..." Rhonda began, then hesitated. She didn't want to admit that Grimm had no interest in her, even though she knew it was true. "I don't know." she frowned, looking away.

One of the synthodrones pressed its foot into Rhonda's back, forcing her to the ground. She sputtered, struggling to keep her face out of the black puddle it was being pushed into. "She can be persuaded, my lord." stated one synthodrone with an emotionless detachment, watching Rhonda gasp and sputter.

"You'll never catch him." Rhonda chuckled helplessly. "So just get stuffed."

"You've got spunk, kid." Shego said. "But you talk too much. Stand down, Eight Two Zero." she told the synthodrone that was holding Rhonda down. "You'll never catch him..." Shego began with a grin as she stared down into Rhonda's tear filled eyes. "So just get stuffed." Her voice began to adjust, slightly at first. "Just get stuffed..." Shego's voice heightened in pitch slightly, and she added a pleading tone until it nearly matched Rhonda's. "Get stuffed." she finished, her vocalizer creating a perfect copy of Rhonda's voice. Shego plunged her hand into one of Rhonda's pockets and pulled out her communicator. "This is base..."

* * *

"Can you hear me?" came a young woman's voice from Grimm's communicator. Wade looked down at the device in his hand. "There are synthetics looking for me. I need help!"

"Wade! Get a location!" Kim ordered. They had all gathered in the control room and were surrounding Grimm, getting only vague answers and riddles in exchange for their questions. Each of them were back in their Global Justice uniforms and Wade had been decrypting Grimm's communicator, finding hours of scans and information about every facet of their base, as well as several voice recordings. Grimm moved to snatch the communicator from Wade at the sound of Rhonda's voice, but stopped as Ron placed a glowing hand on his shoulder. He concentrated on the voice and the words, watching as Wade homed in on the transmission signal using the control room's computer system.

"Got it, Kim!" Wade announced. "Just outside Professor Icari's base."

Grimm's face blanched at Wade's words and his heart sank. "Okay, suit up. We're going back." Kim said, leading Wade and Joss into the generator room. The reinforced blast door slid closed and Ron, Rufus, and Grimm watched as the rest of the team stood with their backs against the generator, each in their own alcove. Even through the well insulated steel walls of the generator room, the rolling thunder could be heard and all three spectators shielded their eyes against the flashes of electricity that crawled its way up the arms of each crew member, transforming the surges of energy into metal plating.

"Okay, I'm impressed..." Grim said quietly with a smirk as the blast door slid open and Kim marched out with Joss and Wade in tow.

"Joss, Wade; prep the Kepler." Kim ordered. "Ron, the place will probably be hot, so start loading the skyscooters." she said, walking toward Grimm. From Ron's uniform pocket, Rufus pointed a tiny paw toward the hangar section as everyone but Kim and Grimm left the room. "Come on, you're going to lock up." she stated, glaring down at their intruder.

Grimm returned the look, standing to face her. Kim had just ordered all of her backup out of the room, and for once, he couldn't be sure if she was just so arrogant with her fancy armor on that she would have no trouble forcing him into a dungeon, or if she simply knew a mere mortal was no match for the Centurion battle suit. He had heard that members of Kim's team had gone toe to toe with synthomechs before, and there seemed to be no doubt in her eyes. "No way." Grimm said defiantly. "I'm coming with you."

"I'm sorry, was I speaking into your bad ear?" Kim asked. "Move."

Grimm backed out of Kim's reach. Whether the armor made her superhuman or not, he wasn't going to abandon Rhonda's fate to a bunch of shoddy recruits in shiny plate. "Look, that's not my partner." he said quietly. "It's her voice, sure. But I know her. She wouldn't break radio silence. And even if she did, she'd use our code." Kim sighed, moving toward him again. Grimm held out a hand as though to keep her at bay. "Okay, I broke into your base. We needed to know you were on the level. Not working for Drakken. No one else has this kind of equipment. I had to be sure."

"Well, knowing is half the battle, isn't it?" Kim asked. With myonetically enhanced speed, she reached out and caught Grimm's cuff in her gauntlet. "Let's go."

At Kim's movement, Grimm pulled his arm back and spun, letting his long rider slip off until he was out of reach again. "Let me talk to her."

Kim tossed the jacket aside, growing impatient. "Even if I wanted to believe you..."

"Listen to me, Possible!" Grimm shouted. His temper was rising out of his control, but his voice was becoming even more cold and steely. "If she dies because I wasn't there..." he began, hesitating. "I left her behind because I thought this would be too dangerous."

Kim instantly froze, her eyes glazing over with a nagging memory that refused to let her go. "Then that's a mistake you'll have to live with."

"You won't keep me here, y'know. GJ prisons aren't exactly known for keeping people in." Kim narrowed her eyes and moved to reach for her pistol. "What if it was one of yours, Possible? What if it was Ron out there?" Grimm's voice wasn't pleading, but it was becoming desperate. But as Kim's hand moved away from her pistol grip, he knew he had picked the right nerve.

Kim looked down at Grimm's communicator that Wade had left on the console, then tossed it to him. "Answer. But one wrong turn of phrase and I'll gladly make a decision I might regret later."

Grimm nodded and activated the device. "Reading you loud and clear, Ripley. Where's the video?"

After a short pause, Rhonda's voice came back. "Comm is damaged. If you're done hanging out with the Princess-inator and her crew, I need you back here!"

"Roger that, Ripley." Grimm answered, shaking his head at Kim. "I'm on my way."

Kim grabbed the communicator away from Grimm the moment it was deactivated. "Fine, let's go.", she said, pushing him toward the hangar.

Ron spun the last skyscooter and left it hovering in the Kepler's cargo hold, spying Kim and Grimm entering the hangar. "Kim?" he called in confusion, stepping out of the ship and watching the other man suspiciously.

Kim held up a hand to stop Ron and walked past him. "He made a convincing argument, alright?" she said quietly, meeting Ron's eyes for a moment. "Wade?"

"Got it, Kim." Wade said, meeting Grimm before he entered the ship. In his hands was something Grimm had only seen once before and a smirk crept across his face. "Let's see your arm."

"Wrist grenade, huh?" Grimm asked. "Remote or proximity?" he asked, rolling his sleeve up to expose his forearm.

Wade placed the explosive onto Grimm's wrist and a metal band seemed to grow around his wrist, locking the device in place. "Remote. Tied into each of our suits." he said reluctantly. "But if you're thinking of taking one of us hostage somehow, I should tell you that the blast will only be enough to sever your hand."

"Shaped charge. Nice." Grimm said, cocking an eyebrow. "And with a cybertronic wrist band." he smiled. "Let me guess, if I try to remove it..."

"You're going to need a woman to keep you warm at night." Joss said from her pilot's seat.

"Offering?" he shot back.

Before Joss could reply, Kim cut in. "Just get us into the air, Joss." she ordered as she took a seat in her command chair. The seats weren't particularly comfortable while wearing their armor, but Kim wasn't going to take any chances with Grimm in the cockpit. She turned to him with a frown. "No trouble and you won't have to worry about it."

"No worries, Captain." Grimm replied with a smirk. "I'll be on my best behavior."

* * *

Rhonda was dreaming. Her heart had leapt at the sound of Grimm's voice over the communicator and she had tried to yell out; to warn him about Shego's trap, but the synthodrone holding her had clamped its hand over her mouth. Shortly after, the same synthodrone had drugged her with a sedative and she now found herself lying before the rock she had run to with hazy, blurred forms surrounding her. She tried to roll over, but a wave of nausea overcame her and the soft, muddy ground beneath her felt as though it would fall away.

Her vision focused slightly on the rock she was lying beside. Even through the rain, it seemed familiar somehow, and from the angle she was staring from, it looked like a rough statue of a large bear, at least nine feet long from nose to rump. It was heavily chipped and scarred, as though it had fallen and rolled from a great height. She laughed at a childhood memory of getting lost in the woods at camp as a child and finding a similar rock high in the mountains. An experience that had set her apart from the outdoors for most of her life afterward. Suddenly, the chiseled eyes of the statue seemed to flash a fluorescent blue and a ghost like image of a bear came out of the rock, turning its head to stare at her. "_Katasistsikoowa..._"

* * *

Shego was watching the blond woman writhe in fear from her position amongst the rocks of a mountain that had been reduced to rubble. She seemed to be hallucinating, talking to herself and scrambling away from some unseen monster in the mud and ash. It was times like this that made working for Drakken far more worth it now than it ever had been in the past.

"Rhonda? You okay?" The voice caught Shego's attention and she looked towards the edge of the clearing they had left Rhonda in. A young man with auburn stubble on his head and around his mouth was cautiously approaching, dressed as a typical resistance fighter with a camouflage long coat over top of black combat fatigues. Shego became a blur, moving imperceptibly through the forest to come to a stop on one side of Rhonda, opposite Grimm in a splash of water and mud. Grimm raised an eyebrow at Shego's sudden appearance, lifting his hands slowly to show he was unarmed.

Shego crouched as the squad of synthodrones began to file in around her. "Gave her a sedative." she said with a wry smile. "I'd say she's having an adverse reaction." Rhonda was speaking gibberish, and her eyes were glazed over. "I hear you've been in Possible's base. Just tell me where it is and you and your girlfriend can go free."

"And if I don't?" Grimm asked, a knowing smile touching his lips. "Let me guess, you'll torture me?"

Shego stood again, grinning and shaking her head. "Nah. You seem like the type that'll die before talking. Strong and silent, so to speak." she said, the index finger on her right hand sparking to life in a blazing arc of green energy. "Drakken said the way to a man's mind is through his heart. Who am I to argue with that?" she grinned, pointing at Rhonda.

"Okay, wait!" Grimm said, putting his hands open in front of him in a gesture for Shego to halt. The familiar sound of a pair of rocket thrusters overhead caused any hope of escape to quickly die, however. Shego and Grimm both looked to the sky to see Erik descend, leaving a thick plume of smoke in his wake. "Huh. Guess your boss doesn't think you can handle this one on your own."

Shego glared at him, then shifted her gaze to the shiny black and blue figure of Erik as he descended to a gentle landing behind Grimm. "Why are you here?" she asked the other synthomech, still pointing her energized finger at Rhonda.

"Insurance." Erik replied with an arrogant dismissal. The rocket thrusters on his back folded into his body and he looked Grimm up and down with a grin. "Grimm Probable? What a surprise meeting you again. Especially here."

"Erik." Grimm said with a heavy sigh and a clenched jaw, turning to face the synthomech.

Kim had signaled a hold fire command to the rest of the team when the sound of Erik's rockets echoed through the forest. They had planned on attacking the moment Grimm had distracted Shego by getting her to focus on his partner. While having Erik show up had certainly complicated things, Kim had only held off the attack when it became apparent that their mystery intruder and Erik knew each other. While she wrestled with the notion of leaving two living people at the mercy of two synthomechs, her curiosity caused her to wait and listen.

"You know this guy?" Shego asked, surprised and partially distracted by Rhonda's ongoing prattle.

Erik walked toward Grimm, his heavy footfalls leaving defined imprints in the wooden ash. "Are you kidding? Grimm here single handedly delivered the entire Villain League into my hands, allowing the only real threat to Father's Synthetic Empire to be destroyed in one preemptive strike." Erik said with mock admiration. "Good thing you didn't listen to your best friend, Grimm. This world could have turned out much differently."

"You're welcome." Grimm said through gritted teeth, knowing Kim and her crew were undoubtedly hearing every word. "How about a little payback?" he asked as casually as he could. "Let Rhonda and I go and we'll call it even."

"Uh, excuse me?" Shego asked, folding her arms over her chest. "He was about to tell me where Kim Possible's base is to save his girlfriend."

Grimm turned to look at Shego over his shoulder. "Hey. Adults are talking here. Shoosh!"

Shego opened her mouth as through to speak, but nothing came out. Instead, her hands blazed into green fire again, and she growled. Erik was eyeing Grimm suspiciously, mirroring the smirk on the man's face. "Your head games won't work on me, Grimm." Erik said with a smile. "I'm a machine. I already know I'm better than you."

Grimm placed his hands on his hips and blew his breath out. "Well, you've got me there." he said, looking up into the synthomech's eyes. "You're pretty much flawless. A machine with no emotion other than what you've been programmed with. Her on the other hand..." Grimm said, hooking his thumb over his shoulder toward Shego. "She's a human in a machine's body. Who's manufacture was interfered with, if my sources are right." he continued, looking over his shoulder into Shego's green glowing eyes. "I just can't help but wonder why Drakken sent her first..."

"You're history, pretty boy!" Shego shouted. She clasped her hands together and literally threw a compressed ball of energy at Grimm. At the last moment, Grimm performed a split, falling to the ground and covering his head as Erik took the brunt of the blast, sending him flying back several feet to collide with a large stone that had been lying a short distance away, breaking it in two. "Uh oh..."

* * *

So this Grimm Probable character had turned Dementor and his Villain League over to Drakken at the end of the Diablo War. Kim shook her head in disgust. As evil as all of the villains combined could have been, they would have been the only ones with enough resources and technology to have been able to put a stop to Drakken's invasion after Global Justice had been defeated. Kim ground her teeth in frustration. She had stood aside and allowed Bonnie to be digitized to give her a taste of what she had done to so many people in her name because she had thought the woman deserved it.

But what did Grimm deserve? The vague details of his decision that changed the world sounded oddly familiar. If she had just listened to Ron, would things have turned out any differently? And if Shego or Erik took him to Drakken, he would eventually crack and there would be nothing between Drakken's forces and the GJ base. If she shot him down here and now before they had a chance to digitize him, was she any better?

"Kim?" came Wade's voice through her comm.

Kim sighed. "Okay, we concentrate fire on the synthomechs. Rufus takes out the drones. Ron..."

"I know. I'm the distraction." he whispered back.

"No." Kim replied. "Get our new friends to safety. They're still human, at least in body."

"Got them covered, KP." Ron said. For a moment, Kim was surprised to hear a smile in his voice. Whether it was because he was tired of being a distraction, or glad to hear that Kim hadn't lost her own humanity, she couldn't tell.

"Somethin's happenin' Kim!" Joss shouted into the comm, and the familiar hum of Shego powering up her hands with energy and releasing it caused Kim to spin out from behind her cover.

"Hit'em!" Kim ordered into the comm, rolling to one knee with her pistol leveled.

* * *

Rhonda scrambled away from the growing translucent image of the bear that stood before her. "Oh man, what am I trippin' on?!" The bear glared down at her with blazing white eyes and sniffed, its snout the size of her entire body.

"You are not dreaming." Thunder seemed to roll as it growled out the words, shaking the Earth around her and Rhonda closed her eyes, preparing for the worst. But the booming voice became a soothing one that overcame the voices around her. "_Katasistsikoowa. _You are late." the massive bear said.

Rhonda opened one eye, still clenching her face in an attempt to ready herself for either the hallucination to stop or for the bear to squish her under its Hummer sized paw. She looked around suddenly, trying to determine if anyone else was around that the bear might be speaking to. "Me? I'm late?" she asked, pointing to herself. "For what? Dinner?!"

The bear circled her and Rhonda turned to continue facing it for fear that it would suddenly snap her up in its jaws if she took her eyes off of it. There were hazy forms gathering around her now that always seemed to be moving out of her peripheral vision. Shifting figures of a lifeless grey in the black dimness that was the dead forest around her. Their voices were heavily muffled as though she was hearing them from beneath the surface of a pool. She suddenly wondered if the figures around her were ghosts, or she was. "I am the Great Bear Spirit." the bear said with a rumble of thunder nearly knocking her back. "And you have been chosen as my Guardian."

Rhonda laughed nervously, holding her arms close to her chest and barely poking a finger out to point. "Really? Cuz you sound more like Optimus Prime..."

The bear sighed, a heavy tiredness seemingly coming over it. "The world as it was is dying, _Katasistsikoowa,_ and things are not how they are supposed to be."

"Tell me about it." Rhonda said, rolling her eyes as though the notion of speaking to a giant ghost of a bear was something she did on a regular basis. "Ever since that Buenos Nachos chain of restaurants started making kiddie toys, the whole world's gone to pot!"

"_Katasistsikoowa!"_ the bear shouted, knocking Rhonda onto her back. "Time is short! You _are_ a Priestess of the Bear, and you must heed the call that I have set before you!"

Rhonda blinked in disbelief. In the distance, she could hear Grimm's muffled voice and she tried to answer him, but for whatever reason, he didn't seem to understand her. "Grimm! I'm here!" she shouted. There were other voices around her, mechanical and lifeless. Mocking. She turned her attention back to the Bear Spirit in confusion. "But I'm not a Priestess! I just want things to go back to how they were! I want my home back..." she said, on the verge of sobbing.

The Great Bear Spirit cocked its head to the side in understanding, then spoke in a suddenly calm voice again. "As do I, _Katasistsikoowa_. Another had come before you to be a Guardian. One that I had given my power to. But even she did not face the challenges that you must now face." the bear said, seemingly resting in front of her and crossing his forepaws. "Our homes are gone, but there will be no hope for renewing them if you do not take that which I am offering to you now. My power will allow you to create change in this world, and bring life back to this land."

"But I can't save the world! There's an army of robots out there, and people dying all over the place!" Rhonda argued. She wanted to believe the hallucination or Bear Spirit, or whatever it was. Maybe she was just finally succumbing to shell shock, but she had been there when Grimm had returned from setting up Dementor and his League. Erik had had no mercy on anyone, and she had never seen Grimm so battered and beaten before.

"Then start with one, _Katasistsikoowa_." the Great Bear Spirit said before fading with a toothy smile, to be replaced by Grimm.

"Rhonda!" he said, gripping her shirt in his hands and staring into her eyes. "Come on! We've got to get out of here!" he shouted before a swirling green and black arm swiped across the back of his head, sending him rolling into the mud. Rhonda dropped back onto the ground, looking up at Shego. She could hear energy blasts echoing around the clearing and bright flashes of light were raining down on the synthodrones from the tree-line.

Shego lifted Rhonda by her fatigues with one arm. "Back to sleep, Barbie!" Shego shouted, her other hand drawing back and igniting in green flame. Then Shego's green eyes opened wide as Rhonda's flashed a brilliant white and a blue halo erupted around her.

* * *

The first thing Kim saw as she stepped out from behind the log she had been waiting behind was Erik climbing out of a crater with green smoke wafting off of his chest and an annoyed grimace on his face. Grimm rolled onto his back and vaulted from a handspring over Shego's head as the ground below him exploded into green fire. Wade and Joss swooped in on a skyscooter, Kim's younger cousin's pistols blazing in rapid succession at Erik, while Wade maneuvered the flying bike through the clearing. Ron was running through the crowd of synthodrones and Rufus leaped from his pocket, biting his sharp incisors into the thick husk of the first synthodrone he landed on. Continuing on, Ron's blue aura burst to life around him and he tackled Shego from the side before she could fire another blast at Grimm.

In the middle of it all sat a young blond woman that seemed dazed and completely oblivious to the battle going on around her. Grimm reached her the moment Shego was out of his way, trying to drag her out of danger. Kim fired a shot past him, severing the head of a synthodrone that was taking aim at him.

Suddenly, Ron came careening from out of nowhere; pelted by one of Shego's blasts, and knocked Kim to the ground. A female voice sounded through her comm system as she rolled to a stop. "Power level drop by twenty percent." Kim checked the digital readout in her Heads Up Display to confirm the alert, and sure enough, the armor had suffered a massive drop in power even though being struck by Ron hadn't hit her very hard. For now, however, it was a mystery that would have to be solved later.

Shego had batted Grimm aside from behind while Kim gained her bearings, and lifted the blond woman with one arm while preparing to strike with her other glowing hand. Grimm and Kim looked on in astonishment as the area was bathed in an earthly blue light, emanating from Rhonda.

The woman gripped Shego's wrist with one hand and forced it away before hurling the synthomech through a thick batch of still standing tree trunks that burst into burned splinters. Shego clawed at the muddy ground, her hands digging gouges in the earth before she came to a stop and launched herself forward again.

Erik turned to watch the battle that Shego and Rhonda seemed to be locked in. He flinched slightly with each hit that Joss landed, leaving smoldering holes in his armor; but chose to ignore the pair in flight. He scanned the area, finding Grimm Probable climbing to his feet in a daze beside Kim.

"In one piece or a million, Grimm; you're coming with me!" Erik announced, trudging forward in the mud. Ron charged him from the side, rising in a flying kick aimed at his chest. Erik lashed out, gripping Ron's outstretched leg and tossed him aside to collide with Rhonda in a tumbling mass of blue light. Kim stood between Erik and Grimm, pelting the synthetic monstrosity with shot after shot from her pistol. "You can't protect yourself and him at the same time, Kim." Erik grinned, spreading his fingers wide as he extended both arms out in front of him.

Grimm tried to focus his vision after the crack across the back of his head that Shego had given him, and he looked up to see Kim dodge an energy blast from Erik that sailed over his head. The second she deflected with a gauntlet, but the third and fourth that came as a focused blast caught Kim in the shoulder, sending her spinning into the mud.

Standing up on weak knees, Grimm looked down at Kim in confusion. He had broken into her base, threatened her life and purpose, and had secrets that could end the lives of everyone she held dear. Yet still she had stood between him and Erik. She could have killed him easily to preserve her secret, but she didn't. He turned to face Erik, his vision doubling and hazy. "Stay back, Erik." he said cooly, tucking his hands behind his back.

"Or what? You'll brood on me?" Erik chuckled, moving closer.

"Don't tempt me." Grimm shot back with a smirk.

Erik tilted his head to the side slightly and smiled. "There's something different about you." he said, narrowing his eyes as though analyzing him. "You're not quite as human as you used to be, are you? You're just a little bit better now."

"Thanks to you." Grimm glowered.

Erik lashed out with amazing speed, gripping Grimm by the throat and lifting him off of his feet. "You got away once. You won't do it again." he stated, his voice taking on a tone of repressed anger.

Grimm chuckled despite Erik's grip on his windpipe. "It's been more than once. Who do you think you've been chasing the last few weeks?"

Erik ground his metal teeth together and the digitization ray unfolded from his wrist on his free arm. "I'm going to enjoy this.

"Me too." Grimm said, his voice strained. Erik looked at him quizzically and Grimm slapped the newly detached wrist grenade onto Erik's neck with a smile, the cybertronic band securing itself to Erik and the anti tamper alarm releasing a high pitched tone. The blast knocked Grimm away and to the ground as Erik's headless body wobbled slightly before falling backward with a muddy splash.

Kim looked at Grimm, who was sitting up and dusting off his hands, looking quite satisfied despite the numerous cuts and scratches that now adorned his face from shrapnel. "How did you..."

"Low powered cybertronic jammer." he replied, tossing a small hand held device with two electrodes on one end into the mud in front of her. "Disposable, but effective." He stood with a pained grunt, but made no move to help Kim to her feet. "Now if you don't mind, I've got to collect my partner." he said, hobbling away from the battle.

"Grimm!" Kim shouted with a growl, searching for her pistol in the mud around her. By time she found it though, Grimm had faded into the background haze of the rain and even her targeting reticle gave no indication of his presence. She picked herself up with a grunt, and turned her attention to Shego.

* * *

While Erik had been programmed with military tactics, hand to hand combat, and marksman subroutines to make him an efficient war machine, Shego retained her years of experience as a martial artist and villain. Her mechanical body was faster and tougher, and her natural green plasma glow had been enhanced as a synthomech. Her claws raked across Ron's back and he screamed out in pain despite the aura that enveloped and protected him. "Too slow, sidekick!" Shego shouted, a malevolent grin spreading across her face.

Wade and Joss swooped in on the skyscooter, firing rapidly and Shego held up an open palm, her glow spreading out like a shield that blocked each high yield blast from Joss's pistols. She fired a volley of green energy as they passed overhead and Wade sent the skyscooter into a steep climb to avoid the barrage.

Rhonda charged at Shego. Her hazy aura taking on the defined features of a great bear as an unexpected but deafening roar echoed through the clearing. Despite Rhonda's petite size, the young woman caught Shego at waist level with her shoulder and bowled her over. Shego dropped into the muddy ash and Rhonda straddled her, beginning to wale her fists onto the synthomech's chest and face. "I'm winning!" she said at last, her breath coming fast and heavy with exhaustion as she stared down at her enemy's dented body in surprise.

Shego's glowing eyes opened and she put her open hands on Rhonda's abdomen. "Not likely, Barbie!" she shouted. Her hands ignited again, and Rhonda was launched in a spinning arc to collide with a log that exploded with the impact. Shego leaped to her feet, surveying the area. "Who's next?!" she grinned, green lines glowing along the fractures in her armor that Rhonda had created. Within moments, the cracks had fused together and the dents had pushed themselves out.

Surging forward, Ron lashed out with a flurry of strikes that Shego seemed to block with ease. Spotting Wade and Joss on the skyscooter coming back for another pass, Shego snatched Ron's forearm as it narrowly missed her and spun, hurling him into his teammates. A maneuvering strut was torn away and Joss dropped a pistol to catch Ron by an arm as the skyscooter descended with a trail of smoke.

"Rematch, Princess!" Shego shouted as she turned to find Kim running toward her. Before Shego could even drop into a ready stance though, Kim was in the air, her myonetic armor carrying her forward with an enhanced kick to Shego's chest with one foot, another to her chin, then a powerful momentum fueled punch into the side of Shego's head, causing her to stumble back as Kim landed in a crouch.

Shego looked up after a moment with a mocking grin spread across her face. The splintered crack in her chest lit up green and healed, as did the spider webbing fracture that originated at her ear. She wagged her finger at Kim. "Sorry, Kimmie. You're going to need more power than that."

"I've got plenty more." Kim retorted with focused determination, despite the voice from her battle armor alerting her to the critical level of power remaining after Erik's assault.

"So do I..." Rhonda said from behind Shego. She was standing in a hunched posture, covered in mud and ash, but continuing to glow a bright blue with blazing white eyes.

"Bring it on, Barbie!" Shego shouted, ignoring Kim for the moment and charging Rhonda.

"_Spirit Strike!!"_ With an ear splitting scream that rippled the thick mud outward around her, Rhonda threw her head back as Shego neared. She raised a hand as through to bat the synthomech aside, but brought it sweeping across Shego's path before she even neared.

Five blades of bluish white light lanced through Shego's body and Kim's armor. Kim's armor vanished in a flicker of electricity and Shego came to a stop in front of Rhonda, a surprised look on her face as Rhonda stood there, breathing heavily and her aura fading.

Kim dropped to her knees, back in her GJ uniform with a shocked look. Directly ahead of her, Shego's synthomech body fell into five neatly sliced pieces that began to sink into the mud.

"Kim!" Ron shouted, stumbling through the wet sludge from where he had fallen from the skyscooter with Joss and Wade. He dropped to his knees and slid to a stop beside Kim, picking her head out of the mud. He glared at Rhonda, who was looking down at her own hands with Ruefel poking his head out over her shoulder in surprise. "What did you do?!"

"I... I don't know..." Rhonda whispered, looking down at the pieces of green and black metal at her feet.

"Rhonda!" Grimm called over the whine of a skyscooter's engine. The hover bike swept in low and Grimm reached down, catching Rhonda's hand as he passed by. Joss and Wade watched as Rhonda climbed up on the bike behind Grimm and the pair rocketed away in the rain, their silhouette quickly diminishing in the dark sky.

Ron had turned his attention back to Kim, ignoring the thief's escape. "Kim! Are you okay?!"

Kim's voice was raspy, but still strong. "I'm fine. Just... tired." she said with a cough. "And really sore." Suddenly, her eyes opened wide and she sat up, wiping the rain from her face. "Grimm?"

"Got away, Kim." Joss said, walking up behind Ron. "Too bad, too. He was kinda cute."

"Took a skyscooter, Kim." Wade added.

Kim checked her uniform and breathed a sigh, pulling Grimm's broken communicator from her pocket. "Well, at least that's all he got away with." she said, standing weakly. "Come on. We'll have to relocate Professor Icari and his crew." She frowned, having no record of all that Grimm had been witness to.

* * *

"I guess it's time to move again." Professor Icari said with a sigh, watching Kim Possible and her crew trudge back to their encampment.

The native man standing next to him was watching a fading light in the distance instead, and ruffled the hair of the tired old bear that stood between the two men. He had been the guide to this group of people that were working on a project to renew the ecology of the world. They were preparing for a time when the war would be ending, and man would have to help the world heal. He nodded and smiled. "For you, perhaps. But I think I will remain here. This land is strong, and will grow so long as there is someone to care for it."

"Chief Sakituya..." Professor Icari began, then hesitated a moment. "You have been a great help to my work here. I thank you."

Chief Sakituya smiled down at the slightly shorter and more rotund Caucasian man. "You are most welcome. I have a feeling this world does not have much longer to wait before it can begin to heal, thanks to the efforts of everyone here tonight." Professor Icari smiled back, then left to greet Kim Possible and her friends. Chief Sakituya looked down and ruffled the fur of his animal companion again. "So, _Ikkinikinsstiwa_, I believe this may be a new beginning for us today."

The bear gave a grunt, then began wandering off, breathing heavily as he did.

"True." Chief Sakituya said to himself, looking back to where Grimm and Rhonda had disappeared in the sky. "_Katasistsikoowa_ was awfully late."

* * *

Jade jumped at the sound of the sliding door opening behind her. She managed to suppress the squeal that escaped her lips, but still managed to cause a grin to spread across Grimm Probable's lips. "Geez, G-Man! Could you be any more sneaky?"

"Maybe." Grimm replied, his boots clicking on the steel floor of the WWEE base that had been their home for the last four years. "I brought you presents." he announced, falling into his favorite chair. Rhonda had been directly behind him coming through the door to the dimly lit, red and black colored control room. She slumped into her own chair on the other side of Jade's massive computer console.

"Communicator?" Jade grinned, holding out her hands.

Grimm's smile faded. "No." One corner of his smile turned up in a smirk. "We did make off with one of Possible's sky bikes though."

"Please tell me..." Jade put in.

"Yes, we dumped the locator. They'll find Atlantis before they find us." Grimm assured her.

"But without the communicator's scans, that doesn't amount to much of a haul." Jade replied.

"Relax, Jade. You know me..." he said. He dug a thumb into his right eye socket, causing Rhonda to look away with a grimace as he plucked the synthetic eyeball out of its socket and placed it into Jade's waiting hands. "I always carry a spare."

Jade wiped the prosthetic off on her pants as Grimm pulled an eyepatch from the compartment in the arm of his chair and placed it on his head, covering the empty socket. "Sweet!" the seventeen year old Japanese girl exclaimed, placing the eyeball on her scanning pad. "I knew this thing would come in handy." Information and video began scrolling over Jade's monitors. "It's all here! The battle suits. The ship. The generator..." she said, beginning to whisper to herself.

"Can you reverse engineer any of it?" Grimm asked.

"Hm? Can I?" Jade asked, looking insulted. "Of course I can! It'll just take time."

"Spankin'. Get started. After a month of looking for Possible's base out there, I really need a shower." Grimm said, feeling his sore throat with a hand. Rhonda said nothing, but quietly stood and began walking toward the main doorway to exit the control room. As Jade continued to scroll through the information, Grimm stood as well and caught up to Rhonda, grabbing her arm and turning her to face him. "Rhonda, I..."

Rhonda looked away, wiping her eyes with her fingers. "Back to business as usual, yeah?"

"Kinda, yeah." Grimm replied. They had gotten close enough to the automatic door that it had slid open, waited, and closed again. Grimm placed a hand on Rhonda's chin and pulled her face back to look her in the eyes. The world had already ended, and here he had been squandering his life and stomping on feelings he'd had for Rhonda for a very long time. He closed his eye as the door opened and closed again with an echoing hiss, pulling Rhonda's face to his in a hungry kiss.

"Whu?" Rhonda's voice became muffled as her eyes rolled back and she hesitantly pulled herself closer to Grimm, ignoring the door open and close again.

"In or out!" Jade shouted as the door opened once more. She turned, her faded green dreads flailing around her neck and shoulders, and spotted the couple stumbling out the door, still lip-locked as it closed again. She sighed, turning back to her monitor. "About time..."

* * *

**A special thanks to Slyrr, for allowing me to use Team Probable in this chapter, as well as for beta-ing it to make sure they remained in character for their new surroundings.**


	9. Judgement

**Judgement**

Joss Possible put the skyscooter into a steep dive as she neared the edge of the Grand Canyon, and was showered with bits of rock as an explosion broke away rubble behind them. Streaks of blue energy whipped by as she banked the cycle left and right and continued on a vertical descent. "He's gaining!" Wade shouted into his battle suit's comm.

Wade's arms were wrapped tightly around Joss's waist, and would probably have been far too tight if not for her own battlesuit. They had thought that they had gotten lucky in managing to find a stockpile of information in a base's computer system. It wasn't long after transferring it all to a data disk that Erik had shown up. Now, with the skyscooter running on a low fuel alarm and the synthomech bearing down on them, Joss and Wade had managed to turn a simple reconnaissance mission into a run for their lives. "We're not going to outrun him on this thing!" she shouted back.

"Shouldn't you be pulling up now?!" Wade asked as the floor of the canyon continued to get closer.

"Just let me drive!" Joss stood, pulling back on the controls of the skyscooter. Wade's screams of panic could be heard through his comm and he clenched his hands around Joss's thighs, pressing his visor against her backside. The skyscooters stabilizers extended out to either side, throwing a cloud of dust up as they strained to keep the cycle from crashing. "Baby..." Joss smirked, sitting back down on the seat. The stabilizers rotated back to full flight mode and the skyscooter rocketed ahead again.

Her visor was picking up a lot of metal on the canyon floor and Joss wove in and around destroyed military tanks and pieces of Diablos that had found their way down the cliff sides. Erik was continuing to fire bursts of energy at them, causing the metal husks and rocky outcroppings around them to explode. "Have we come up with a plan yet?" Wade asked, turning to look behind them.

"Hold on!" Joss gunned the afterburners, the fuel warning blazing brightly in her field of view. Her rear view scanner was showing Erik accelerating as well and she neared a tall rocky pillar. She banked to the side and leaned, the skyscooter drifting sideways before curving around it. There was a thunderous crash as Erik struck the rock and Joss heaved back on the controls, climbing the quickly approaching face of the canyon wall. Erik's impact shattered the pillar of jagged rock, and he fired both of his arm cannons as he exited the other side and the rest of the pillar collapsed on top of him.

Wade turned away from the resulting blast that struck the skyscooter's stabilizer. "We're hit!" he shouted. The skyscooter sank into a barrel roll as the pair cleared the edge of the cliff.

"Better grab onto something, Wade!" she ordered and Wade's armored gloves clasped onto her breast plate. "Hey!"

The skyscooter circled for a moment, one stabilizer still pushing it forward until the engine finally failed. Joss did her best to steer the jet bike toward a clearing surrounded by rocky terrain and the skyscooter skimmed across the formation, pitching its riders forward before coming to a destructive end in a ball of flaming scrap. Joss hit the ground on her chest, sliding several feet to a stop in an impressive gouge in the hard packed sand before her battlesuit vanished in a low pitched hum of energy. Wade was pitched over head and struck the rocky wall upside down with a bone crunching thud before falling to the ground beside Joss.

* * *

"Erik?!" Drakken asked into the air of his throne room. "Erik!" He turned to the young man that had come to deliver a report on the Icarus phase of his Project New Order, complete with orbital estimates and spatial mapping, and dismissed him with an absent wave of his gloved hand. "Hephaestus! Locate Erik!" he commanded.

The deep whispering voice of the artificial intelligence filled the throne room. "Erik has been incapacitated, Lord Drakken. Estimate four hours for full regeneration."

Drakken growled. "Shego!"

"Yo, Dr. D!" returned the synthomech's voice. "I thought we talked about an inside voice when speaking directly into my mind."

Drakken ignored the quip. "Erik's been shot down while chasing Kim Possible's crew and they have some valuable information!"

"Wait, you sent Erik to take out Kimmie?" Shego asked. "I thought we had an understanding. Possible's mine!"

"Sure, because you did so well last time." Drakken retorted under his breath.

"Hey, there was no information about Barbie having super powers."

"Look!" Drakken growled again. "Just get that disk back!"

"Alright, alright!" Shego replied before her voice vanished.

* * *

Joss let out a cough as she sucked in a breath of dust. With shaking arms, she lifted herself out of the rut that she had dug herself into. "Wade?" she asked, her voice hoarse. The dark skinned young man was lying on his back unconscious beside her, but thankfully still breathing. "Wade?" she asked again, frowning. She crawled over to his still form and looked into his face. He stirred as she shook him gently and moaned when she tapped him lightly on the cheek. "Come on, big boy. Time to perform."

His eyes began to slowly flutter open and Joss smiled, planting a soft kiss on his lips. "What was that for?" he asked, looking into her eyes.

"For holding on when I told you to. You really know how to make a girl feel wanted." she said with a grin. Immediately, the grin faded and she slapped him across the face, hard enough to leave a stinging sensation.

"Ow!" he complained, feeling the target of the assault with a hand. "What was that for?" he asked, now confused.

"For copping a feel while you did! What kind of girl do you think I am?!"

"I... uh... whu?" Joss's grin returned at the sign that she had put Wade off of his game. Wade shook his head. "That was not one of your better landings."

Joss narrowed her eyes. "I take it back..." she said, looking at the pieces of skyscooter that were strewn around the area. They seemed to be in some kind of crater that had been here for quite some time, with cacti having grown within. "Can you walk?"

"Yeah, I..." Wade said, trying to stand. He yelled out when a shooting pain pulsed through his body from his left lower leg.

"Now what?" Joss sighed. She pulled a knife from her uniform's utility belt and easily cut a line up Wade's pant leg. "Wow..."

"Wow?" he asked, his breathing becoming fast. "Is it bad?"

"Not at... oh, the wound? Well, I sure ain't envyin' ya at all." Wade's lower leg was bent at a subtle angle and a definite bulge could be seen protruding out to the side. "I'll have to set and splint it. It's gonna hurt."

"Your bedside manner leaves a lot to..." Wade's scream of agony echoed across the desert and down the canyon before he bit down on his leather vest.

"Any other complainin'?"

"Nu-uh." he whimpered. Joss began to unbuckle Wade's belt and pull it through the loops of his pants. "What are you doing?" he asked, his voice shaking.

"Don't be gettin' excited. Your drawers are stayin' on." she said, pulling her own utility belt off and beginning to fashion a splint. "This time."

Wade laid down in the dust, still blinking away pain induced tears. "Why do you do that, Joss?"

Joss frowned, continuing to tighten the splint using pieces of the skyscooter for support. "Do what?"

"You know. Talk about..."

"Sex?"

"Intimacy." Wade said, looking suddenly uncomfortable. "Like it doesn't mean anything."

"You won't be walking anywhere." she informed him, her voice suddenly growing cold and distant. "I've got some reserve power in my suit. It should be enough that I could carry you."

Wade shook his head. "GPS showed a town near here that we know helps resistance members. See if you can get some help there."

"No way! Who knows how long Erik'll be down fer. I ain't gonna leave ya."

"Joss." Wade stated, looking her in the eye. "Corporal." he said more slowly. "Get going. I'll be fine here."

Joss narrowed her eyes and sighed. "Yes sir, Sergeant, sir." she bit out. She stood and hooked her arms under his to pull him toward the edge of the crater to lean against the rocky wall. "Fine time to be pullin' rank."

* * *

Arty Smarty brought the wood axe down on a block of wood and it stuck. He frowned, struggling to pry the axe from the log. "Stupid robots..." he mumbled, looking around to see if anyone was watching. "Take over the world and destroy my home and make me live in this dirty hole of a town." He placed a foot on the block of wood, prying the axe free. He glared down at his torn sneakers and sighed. They were the same shoes he'd worn for the last five years, and were quickly becoming the equivalent of sandals.

The town was living off of what little grid was left in an effort to stay hidden from the Synthetic Empire, but that meant collecting stuff like wood and water. Once in a while, the Mayor would send people into old Las Vegas to see what supplies could be collected, but Arty hadn't been able to go back yet. His father kept telling him that he just wasn't ready.

Arty sniffed at the memory. Las Vegas had been where he had been when the Diablos came. He himself once had a dozen of the little toys lying around his temporary home, and they had destroyed all of the material things in his life. All the things that a filthy rich eleven year old cared about. He collected up a small bundle of wood in one arm and slung the axe over his other shoulder.

"Please... I need help." came a ragged female voice from behind him. The familiarity of it caused Arty to pause. He turned, dropping the bundle of split wood as the woman's face filled his vision.

"You..." he said, hefting the axe. It was a face and voice that had been burned into his mind two years ago when the synthetics had returned to Las Vegas to clean up what the Diablos had missed. The woman was dressed in a similar outfit as she had been then. A leather one piece like what all the human agents of the Synthetic Empire wore, but now it was completely black, with gold cuffs, zipper, and shoulder straps. She had marks on her face and tears in her suit, as though she'd just been in a crash, but it was her. "You killed them!" he shouted, swinging the axe at the woman's head.

Joss ducked beneath Arty's swing with a grunt. She had just walked through the Nevada desert for two hours and she didn't have the patience to wrestle with some homicidal kid with an axe. Arty spun away as people began to gather and watch. "Look, my name's Joss Possible. I'm Kim Possible's cousin." she shouted as best she could despite her dehydration. "My friend's injured a little ways away. I'm just looking for help!"

"Like you helped my friends in Vegas?!" Arty shouted. Tears were streaming down his eyes, making streaks through the dust on his freckled face. A crowd began to form and Arthur swung the axe again before anyone could reach him. This time, Joss caught the shaft of the axe in both hands and planted her book in Arty's gut, sending him stumbling back into the arms of a tall, lanky bald man.

"Arty! What's going on here?!" Martin Smarty asked, lifting the boy to his feet.

"She's the one, Dad!" he screamed. "She was in Vegas when they finished it off! She works for Drakken!"

* * *

Joss stood stiffly in the black and navy blue uniform of the Synthetic Empire's Recruited Division. She was assigned to Synthodrone Nine Eight Two, and she watched as the army of synthodrones around them pulled people from their hiding places in the heart of Las Vegas. The multitude of monuments that used to attract so many people to the city were burning and broken, the head of a miniature Statue of Liberty seemed to be staring at her in sadness, but Joss betrayed no emotion.

"Feel lucky you are with the Synthetic Empire, Graduate." Nine Eight Two said in its deep voice as the two forms walked amongst the crying people. "While these humans sole purpose now is to breed and provide utilities to our growing Empire, your destiny is perfection within a synthetic body. Immortality even greater than my own."

Joss nodded, but said nothing. She could literally feel the hatred that people were showing for her, but were helpless to fight back. She did her best to avoid their eyes, and pointed toward what used to be the Caesar's Palace Casino. "There." she said, and Nine Eight Two gestured for a full squad of synthodrones to enter the building...

* * *

Joss frowned, shaking the memory from her mind and throwing the axe down at her feet. "I fight Drakken now. With Kim Possible!"

"She's lying!" Arty shouted, struggling to escape his father's grip.

"I lost my family in Vegas." someone else said in the crowd, causing nods and angry looks from others to be focused on Joss.

Joss glared at the crowd. "Please! My friend is hurt out in the desert. We need help. His name's Wade..." She stopped, stepping back as a large, square shouldered man stepped through the crowd with his arms crossed over his chest. In contrast to the people around him, this man was clean and dressed in military clothing with a well kept crew cut.

"What seems to be the problem here, Martin?" he asked in a deep, husky voice.

"Arty says this woman is one of Drakken's agents." Martin said. "She says that she's a part of Kim Possible's crew."

"Is that so?" the large man asked, bending down to gaze into Joss's face. "So which is it, Missy?"

Joss bit her lip in hesitation. While her natural inclination was to deny that she had any part in the atrocities that she had committed in the Synthetic Empire, she was already caught. "I... I did work for Drakken. But I'm Kim Possible's cousin! I'm a good guy!"

"You see, Barkin?!" Arty shouted, struggling out of his father's arms to attack. "Kill her!"

"That's Mr. Barkin, sport." Steve Barkin said, lifting Arty off of the ground with one hand as the boy continued to run in mid air. He handed Arty back to his father, then turned back to Joss. "Let's get one thing straight. I don't like traitors. From either side. You can't trust them. Never know when they're going to switch sides again." he said in a menacing whisper. "But, we're also human. The few. The proud." he continued, turning back to the crowd. "So here's what we're gonna do: We'll have a trial."

"That's fair." Martin said with a nod, though he never took his eyes off of Joss.

Barkin turned back to Joss, glaring down at her. "You've got the air of a soldier, kid. Are you going to accept whatever judgement comes your way?"

Joss growled, thinking of Wade alone and injured in the desert. "If you send someone to go help Wade... fine."

"Vinnie, Junior!" Barkin snapped. "Take a buggy and see what you can find out there! The rest of us will meet in the main hall." The populous looked at each other in confusion for a moment before he shouted, "Let's move, people!"

* * *

A massive boulder exploded at the bottom of the Grand Canyon, sending bits of rock and sand scattering in every direction. A black and blue, mechanical arm punched through the remainder of the stone that covered Erik and he climbed out, shaking and grimacing. His lower legs were still pinned beneath the rubble and had been crushed beneath the weight. Flickers of light swirled around the stumps that ended at his knees, the regeneration process already growing back the lost cybertronic limbs.

With his one functioning eye, he spied his detached arm that he had tried to protect himself with. It lied inert a few meters away and he concentrated, mentally flexing the fingers on the amputated appendage. He grinned weakly, crawling toward it with only his one arm to drag himself forward.

As he neared the arm, a pair of glassy black and green armored feet stopped in front of him, blocking his path. "Well, well. Looks like you've been turned into scrap again, kid." Shego said with a satisfied smirk. She knelt down and picked up Erik's arm, inspecting it.

"Careful, Shego." Erik retorted in a heavily distorted voice. "I've been a synthomech a lot longer than you have. If you ask nicely, maybe I'll give you some pointers in how to defeat little blonde girls when my regeneration is done."

Shego tossed the arm over her shoulder, resulting in a tired growl from Erik as it came to rest on the side of the canyon wall. "Where's Possible?" she asked, folding her arms over her chest.

"Why?" he chuckled. "I made sure her bike went down in the desert. She's gone."

Shego rolled her glowing green eyes and sighed. "You got lucky with the stun field the first time, but you couldn't have taken her out just like that."

"It must burn you up to know that all those years of fighting her were for nothing once I came along."

Shego lifted Erik up by the neck and shook him. "What's her location, you tin can?"

Erik weakly struck at Shego's grip with his remaining arm. "You don't stand a chance. You never did!" he grated.

"Give me her location and you won't have to crawl back to Daddy as a failure again." she grinned, glaring into his cracked face. "I'll finish the job for you."

"Get bent." Erik growled back.

Shego shook him violently. "Where'd she go down?!"

Erik groaned. All he could hope for was that Shego would find Possible's crew and hold them in place until he could regenerate and destroy them all himself. "Sector Em Two Nine!" he blurted out.

Shego dropped the broken synthomech immediately. "Was that so hard?" she asked with a laugh. "If we just work together, I can destroy Kimmie and everyone will be happy." she said, walking toward the cliff face. "Later, scrap heap!" she smiled with a wave before leaping up the side of the canyon in three jumps.

* * *

Steve Barkin's gavil came down heavy on the desk that he was seated behind. An aging Timothy North sat to his immediate left, and an uncharacteristically humbly dressed Elsa Cleeg sat to his right. The main hall was filled to capacity with Arty Smarty taking the chair directly in front of the desk and his father just behind. He was still glaring at Joss, who sat at the end of the desk, next to Timothy. "Okay, this trial will come to order." Barkin bellowed. When the makeshift court settled into relative silence, he faced Arty with a scowl. "Go ahead, Arty. Tell us your story. And don't be worried about the highly trained, traitorous soldier that you're accusing." he growled. "She won't get far if she tries anything."

Arty swallowed hard, his angry gaze suddenly wavering. He turned his attention to Barkin instead, cleared his throat, and began to speak. "It was a few years ago. The Diablos had already destroyed most of Las Vegas and hadn't let any survivors out of the city so we had been living in the basements." he began, chuckling lightly. "They'd taken Dad in the first attack, and some of his poker buddies took me in. We were living in the basements of the casinos, surrounded by worthless cash."

"Poor kid..." Joss whispered sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

Arty glared at her again. "It was the hottest day that year. When night fell, I snuck out to try cooling off and found Dad in the city. He said he'd escaped. We ran back to the casinos to warn Mr. Porter, but when we got there... she was there." His eyes were turning red now as he stared at Joss, his cheeks taking on a wet sheen. "She lead the synthetics to the casinos where we'd been hiding. She pointed to the building, and said something to the Niner. Then the casino exploded." he said through grinding teeth. "The people that tried to help me... they were gone!"

Joss looked away and her jaw was visibly tightening. Barkin nodded to Arty with a grim expression. "That'll be all. Your turn, Martin." he said as Arty exchanged seats with his father.

* * *

Wade awoke to a tiny horned toad that stared at him without moving. He slowly dragged himself away to the edge of the crater that Joss had left him in and the distinctive sound of a Doom Vee rolling by caught his attention. He carefully peeked over the stone ridge and spotted the vehicle below him in the valley, moving slowly and alone. This Doom Vee was obviously scavenged, however. While it retained its mounted Death Ray and balloon tires, the rest of the vehicle's shell had been stripped away, revealing its massive engine and frame. Two people sat inside; a dark skinned man with thick hair, and a blonde, long haired man manning the Death Ray.

Wade jumped slightly as a pulse of green energy struck the side of the Doom Vee, nearly flipping it over. The gunner was thrown out of the turret and the driver spun the Doom Vee around, tossing a cloud of dust into the air. Wade followed the stream of green fire back to Shego, who stood alone a number of meters away. Her metallic, multifaceted face had an eerie green illumination that came from her glowing hands that sent a cold chill through Wade's spine.

As the Doom Vee turned and slowed to allow his gunner back into the vehicle, Shego let loose another volley of energy that knocked the Doom Vee off course and into a mound of rock. Shego seemed to blur as she moved, arriving at the Doom Vee before the gunner could reach the Death Ray. He sailed forward as Shego fired a beam of energy, and he struck the ground in a heap, his back smoking.

The driver crawled out of his seat and into the turret, swinging the Death Ray toward Shego and firing. The synthomech dodged easily and leaped on top of the Doom Vee, raking her energy infused claws across the man's chest. He screamed and spun before falling, only to hang unceremoniously on the vehicle's roll bars.

Wade slunk back out of sight and wiped the sweat from his face with a shaking hand. He could hear Shego leave after a few moments and he stared down at his wounded leg. Shego would find Joss easily enough by tracking the Doom Vee's radio transmission. Heaving a breath, he set his jaw in determination and began to drag himself over the ridge that he had been hiding behind.

* * *

"Can you confirm that this woman was in Las Vegas during the attack, Martin?" Steve Barkin asked, entwining his fingers on the desk in front of him and glaring at his former Smarty Mart employer like any interrogator would.

Martin Smarty nodded, looking reluctantly at Joss. "Yes, she was there."

"And was she responsible for the attack?" Timothy asked.

Martin shrugged. Despite the questions, he held his gaze on Joss. She wasn't much older that his own son, maybe by a year or two, and she was already as hardened as a veteran soldier. "I don't think she was the one that unleashed the Diablos; or even the one commanding the Synthodrones."

"Dad!" Arty began to protest, but a glare from Barkin silenced him.

"A lot of people did questionable things to survive." he said slowly. "To judge her now..."

Steve nodded, obviously unconvinced of any verdict. He turned his attention to Joss now, seemingly devoid of sympathy or prejudice. "So Ms. Possible. Do you have anything to say in your defense?"

Joss straightened her posture, looking at Barkin, then at Martin, and finally Arty and back again. "It's true that I was in the Empire, and that I was involved in the attack on Las Vegas."

"See!" Arty shouted, standing. "She's guilty!"

"There will be no speaking out of turn unless you're itching for a detention!" Barkin shouted, pounding his gavil on the desk. "Now sit down and let the girl speak!" Unaccustomed to being scolded, Arty sat down in shock and Barkin turned back to Joss. "Carry on, Ms. Possible. You have the floor."

"You don't understand." she began, trying desperately to keep from sounding pleading. "After the first Diablo attack, the synthetics came for people. No one knew why. They were coming for the best and brightest people. They said it was for the new race. The synthodrones came for my parents while I was tending the horses at the ranch, but they refused to go. My mother..." she choked, feeling a flood waiting at the corners of her eyes. "I had to watch them destroy my mother and turn my father into code to be stored like a file. I tried to stop them, but I was afraid." she said, beginning to sob. "Before I could run or fight, a Global Justice agent stopped me." Joss wiped her cheek with a hand and took a shuddering breath. "Agent Du." she continued. With a sincere, if sad smile. "He found me there and kept me alive."

Arty shook his head. "Can't you see what she's doing?! She playing you by being all weepy eyed and blaming what she's done on what happened to her!" Barkin pointed a large, stubby finger at Arty and narrowed his eyes without saying anything, and Arty swallowed, pressing his lips together again.

Joss seemed to ignore the outburst, and stared down at her hands until the room was silent enough to speak again. "Will explained that GJ needed someone on the inside. Someone they could trust, but would be unfamiliar. What they didn't know about was the indoctrination." she said, remembering losing her identity. Being trapped behind an invisible wall within her own mind, watching and listening but unable to act how she wanted. "It was total control. I knew what I was doing was wrong, but I couldn't... I wanted to fight, I wanted to shout but I couldn't!" Her eyes were hot and her vision blurry now as she glanced at everyone in the room. "Finally, I found a way to get out." she sniffed. "I over heard that there had been a GJ contact in Vegas. But in order to get there, I needed a reason. I didn't know there were so many people still there. I didn't know..." she trailed off, hanging her head in exhaustion.

Arty snorted. "Oh please. She knew! She must have known!"

"Arty, stop!" Martin said sadly, turning to face his son. "Please, just stop..."

* * *

Joss walked stiffly through the dark halls of BN Headquarters, dressed in the skin tight uniform that all of Lord Drakken's human followers wore. She nodded to the pair of synthodrones that approached her in the hall, and she let them pass by putting her back to the wall beside a doorway. As the synthodrone's footfalls diminished down the hall; a tired, agonized voice could be heard through the doorway, and Joss' curiosity made her to stay in place a few moments more.

"Stop..." the voice said with a groan. "I'll tell you. Possible's in Vegas. Las Vegas. Please, just stop..." The tortured voice was obviously male and one that tugged at her memory as though she had heard it on television before the Diablo War.

Joss frowned, hesitating. Kim was in Vegas? If she could get this information to her superiors before the interrogators could, she might have a shot at finding Kim first and escaping. While her compliance chip forced her to act on this opportunity, Joss had far different plans for the outcome.

* * *

Joss' eyes snapped open as a ridiculously large man burst through the doors of the hall, shouting warnings in a deep voice. "What is it, Big Mike?" Barkin asked as the man pushed people aside.

"Synthomech on its way!" he replied, nearly out of breath. "Vinnie and Junior are gone."

"Did they find Wade?" Joss asked, looking way up into the man's face.

Big Mike shook his head. "I don't know."

"Alright, listen up people! Anyone with a weapon needs to prepare to defend the town. As for those that don't own a weapon, why not? It's your second amendment right! What's wrong with you people?!" Barkin shouted as people began filing out of the room.

"Wait!" Arty cried, standing and pointing at Joss. "What about her? It's obvious that she lead the synthetics here, just like in Vegas!"

"Arty, stop it!" Martin said. "Just stop!"

"It was you, wasn't it?" Joss asked, ignoring Arty's rant and looking up into Martin Smarty's tired eyes. She turned to Barkin, her heard pounding. "Let me help."

"You can't be serious! Dad!" Arty continued.

Barkin nodded at Joss, eyeing Martin a moment before speaking. "Do your duty, soldier!"

Joss gave a quick salute to Barkin before turning to run out the door of the hall. She touched the GJ symbol on her collar as she ran, causing the trio she left behind to shield their eyes against the electrifying light that transformed what little energy was left beneath her uniform into her gold and black battle armor. Arty pulled on his father's shirt sleeve. "Dad, we can't let her go! She's guilty!"

Martin shook his head sadly. "No, Arty. I am..."

* * *

Shego stood in the center of the ramshackle town with a satisfied grin on her face. Bullets were glancing off of her armored body with no effect and the defending denizens continued to fall as she engaged them in melee. With blinding speed, she moved around the streets, her claws delivering painful attacks to everyone that moved. A missile flew past her as she leaned to the side, and a man twice her size began reloading another rocket into the launcher tube on his shoulder. Shego became nothing more than a blur as she charged toward him, knocking him back and into a partial wall of a barely standing building, unconscious. "Come on, Kimmie!" she shouted, scanning the clearing at the center of the town. "The sooner you come out, the less people that have to..."

Shego's taunt was interrupted by a series of energy bolts that struck her in the back, sending rippling cracks through her armor. "Sorry, Shego. Kim's not here!" Joss shouted. "'Fraid you'll have to get your ass handed to you by me instead."

Shego turned to glare at Joss and she grinned. "Hey kid." she said, condescendingly. "Did your older cousin let you out to play or are you playing hookie?"

Joss frowned behind her mask and rather than retort, she raised her dual revolving energy pistols, firing and sidestepping as Shego returned fire with streams of green energy. Pillars of concrete exploded along Joss' path as she put various structures between herself and Shego, causing them to collapse as she passed.

Shego too, was weaving like a ghost through the street, evading Joss' energy fire while moving closer. Finally, as Joss took cover behind a broken wall in order for her pistols to recharge, Shego leapt and crashed through the concrete above Joss' head and landed in a roll before standing and turning to face her. Joss raised her pistols and Shego condensed a ball of energy in her glowing hands, launching it before Joss could fire.

The wall she had been hiding behind shattered as Joss was pushed through it, tumbling to a stop. Her pistols flew in either direction and her battle armor shut down, fading away in a flicker of dull light. Joss rolled over onto her back and faced her attacker as the synthomech walked toward her arrogantly. " I'd say tell Kimmie that she's next, but I don't think you'll have the chance. Now where's the data disk?"

"Get stuffed!"

As Shego raised an arm and the digitization weapon folded out of her forearm, the report of a firearm rang out and a large caliber bullet struck Shego in the cheek. "No!" Martin shouted, running toward her with a rifle in his hands. He was aiming along the weapons length and another shot was fired that deflected off of Shego's shoulder as she turned. She pointed a finger at Martin and a thin green beam burned easily through his chest, dropping him to his knees with a gasp.

"As I was saying..." Shego continued with a sadistic grin, aiming the digitization weapon at Joss again. Joss turned away as a yellow green beam drove into Shego's back, knocking her face first into the dust. Green sparks were erupting from the crater in Shego's back and Joss climbed to her feet. Wade was sitting behind the controls of a Death Ray mounted on a stripped down Doom Vee, giving Joss a thumbs up and flashing her a smile.

Shego growled as she struggled to her feet, and Joss scrambled for the rocket launcher that Big Mike had been about to use. Kneeling, she slung it over her shoulder and pulled the trigger once she was lined up on the black and green form. Shego's eyes widened as the shell struck her chest and punctured her armor. The warhead detonated inside, sending pieces of cybertronic metal in every direction.

Joss dropped the rocket launcher from her shoulder, looking around at the now smoking town. The sound of a boy's cries caught her attention and she dragged her feet over to Arty, who was holding his father's body in his arms. He looked up in Joss' tired, scratched, and dirty face. "He told them. They tortured him and he told them." he sobbed and Joss knelt down beside him, placing a sympathetic hand on the boy's shoulder.

"Shego will be back together before long, and Drakken will be sending more drones. You're going to have to go... we can help." Joss said, looking up at Mr. Barkin as he neared. The larger man nodded, then turned away to gather what was left of the townspeople. "I'm sorry, Arty. No one wanted any of this to happen." Suddenly, Arty reached over and clung to Joss, still keeping his tear filled eyes on his father. Hesitantly, Joss returned the embrace and let herself feel genuinely sorry for the boy.

* * *

Shego crept along the dusty street of the town with one arm, her severely damaged legs within sight. There had been no humans left in the town once her systems had activated again, and she was leaving an obvious trail behind her torso as she crawled. While she realized she didn't need to collect all of her pieces as they would eventually break down into energy and regrow on her largest remaining piece, it did quicken the regeneration process. She was within a meter of one of her legs when the familiar sound of a pair of rocket thrusters resounded through the countryside and Erik's good as new body landed between her and her objective. She rolled her faintly glowing eyes as he leaned down and grinned into her shattered facial features. "Fancy meeting you here, scrap heap."

* * *

Kim and Joss stood to one side of the funeral pyre that was burning slowly. Ron stood with Rufus on his shoulder next to Kim, fidgeting and frowning at the few people that were left of the town. Wade leaned on a crutch next to Joss, the fire light flickering in his brown eyes. They were all on the outskirts of Las Vegas, now a burned out city with no inhabitants. The casualties of the day's battle were burning, Martin Smarty included, and Arty watched the flames with Mr. Barkin's hand on his shoulder. With a quiet sniffle, Steve Barkin moved away toward the Kepler that would take him and his citizens to the Passages.

As the crowd began to disperse, Arty walked up to Joss and looked into her eyes. "If it means anything... I'm sorry." he said with a frown.

Joss shook her head, turning to smile at him. "I reckon we've all got somethin' to be sorry for, Arty. We're gonna take ya somewhere safe, K?" Arty nodded and walked past, following Barkin onto the ship with Kim and the rest of the crew following closely behind.


	10. The Eden Road

**The Eden Road**

The Kepler approached the Global Justice base that was secretly nestled within a cloudy mountain range. From the air, the base's location was practically invisible, with sensor equipment hidden just below the snow caps and a large set of hangar doors that were set into the rocks and were only visible through the Kepler's heads up display.

Inside the modified shuttle's cockpit, Joss deftly guided the Kepler through the low power holographic shield. Behind her, Wade stretched and stood from his seat, descending the elevator that brought him down to the cargo area where Rufus and their passenger waited. "Just coming into base, Olthar. Sorry about the blindfold, but normally we don't even allow visitors."

The man known as Olthar raised a hand and smiled, turning in the direction of Wade's voice. "It'll be worth it to see the look on Kim's face when she hears my message." he chuckled with a snort.

"We had an intruder a few weeks ago, so we've had to increase our physical security a little." Wade said, sitting down next to him. Olthar wore a dirty suit of cobbled together armor over what used to be a button up white dress shirt, and he carried a set of square glasses in his hand, useless with the blindfold on. His outfit contrasted against the clean uniforms and powered battle suits that Wade was used to, but Olthar didn't seem to mind. In fact, he seemed to be one of the few people they had come across that seemed quite at home in the world's current situation. "If Drakken wasn't constantly scanning for power usage, we'd have no troubles keeping our security system running."

Olthar nodded and Wade patted him on the shoulder. Wade could feel the Kepler spin, then shudder as Joss landed the behemoth ship within the base. "Touchdown, Wade." Joss announced over the intercom.

"Okay, let's get you to Kim and find out what this is all about."

* * *

"I never get tired of that one." Ron grinned, dumping the remains of his synthesized popcorn into his mouth from the bowl in his hands. While it tasted more like tiny wads of balled up paper, it was still a staple of movie watching.

Kim rolled her eyes. Her arms were crossed over her chest as the credits for the movie scrolled by. "Please! 'My girlfriend became my arch enemy; my arch enemy became my best friend; and my best friend became my girlfriend.' Little cliche isn't it?"

Ron frowned. "Hey, Sky High is like the last classic teenage underdog movie!"

"Super strong, flying geek starts dating the red haired modest hero that he's been best friends with for forever?" Kim snorted, waving the concept away. "In what reality? You just think the red head is cute..." she commented, subtly cocking an eyebrow in curiosity as to his response.

"No!" he instantly replied, crossing his arms defensively. "I just think it could happen. I like the story, okay?"

"Fine! Whatever." Kim said, letting the subject drop with a hint of disappointment. The credits faded as Joss and Wade led Olthar into the command room and removed his blindfold.

"Hey Olthar!" Ron said with a grin as he snapped a lazy salute.

"Greetings, soldiers of the future!" Olthar said, returning the salute. "Wow! I see why this place is so secret!" he said, his pronounced incisors flashing in his open mouthed grin as he looked around the room. "This place is amazing!" He rushed over to the observation window of the generator room, pressing his face against the blast proof glass to get a closer look. "Is that where you charge your battle suits?!"

"Cut the cosplay, Larry." Kim said in irritation. "What's the sitch that you couldn't even trust your own team with?" Ron spun one of the chairs in the center of the room and gestured for Kim's older cousin to sit, which Larry took to comfortably. Kim hated to admit it, but her sheltered nerdy cousin had taken to leadership in an apocalyptic world, fighting against an endless synthetic army as though it was second nature. She had to wonder if he thought the last five years were real, or just a virtual simulation.

"Eden Two." Larry grinned. "Hear of it?"

Joss gave an indignant snort. "Course. Too bad it ain't real."

"People want to believe in something better than the world they've got." Wade said from his place leaning against the central desk. "Magically, Eden Two comes up."

"Wouldn't Drakken have found it by now if it was real?" Ron asked, giving his bowl of leftover popcorn kernels to Rufus to munch on.

"It's as real as anything, Ron." Larry replied, spinning in the chair to face him.

Kim sighed. Tracking down a mythical land was something more suited to Larry himself. "What if it is?" she asked. "What does it have to do with us?"

Larry looked at each of Kim's crew in turn with an intense smile that screamed how satisfied he was that he knew something they didn't. Finally, he faced Kim. "For the last six months there's been a path leading to Eden Two that we've been using to get people to safety. They only agreed to it if we swore to complete secrecy. They didn't want us to even tell you, Cousin."

Kim raised an eyebrow. "So why the change of heart?"

Larry's grin suddenly faded, and he went on. "The path was broken into five parts, and each connection had no information on any of the others, in case any of them were compromised. Which is exactly what happened last week. We don't think the synthetics knew what they had stumbled upon, but either way, we need a new connection."

"And you want us to do it?" Wade asked, a little surprised.

"Not me. Eden Two." Larry said, his smile returning. "In fact, they insisted that Kim Possible meet their courier to set up a new connection."

"Wow, that doesn't sound trappish at all!" Joss commented, rolling her eyes.

"There's no room for skepticism, Kim." Larry said, turning back to look at Joss for a moment. "Besides, they've picked a place no one but your team could go."

"Have you even seen this contact? Or even have any proof that Eden Two exists?" Wade asked.

"No." Larry said flatly. "I haven't met the contact, and I haven't been to Eden Two. I do have this, though..." he said, pulling a black piece of material from a pocket on his vest. "I'm supposed to give this to you, Ron."

Larry passed the material past Kim and Ron took it as the rest of the team gathered around. The black cloth unfolded into a six inch wide and several feet long piece of silk that both Kim and Ron recognized immediately. "It's a ninja mask." he said with a frown. In a white chalky substance were written the words, 'Dear Stoppable-san. Yamanouchi has succeeded.' "It's Yori's mask!" Ron shouted, grinning.

Kim felt a growl growing in her throat, but kept it at bay. Seeing Ron grin seemed bittersweet, and she couldn't pin down exactly why. She clenched her jaw, and turned back to her older cousin, nodding. "Okay, Larry. You've got a deal."

"Wait, wait!" Joss said, holding up her hands. "Just where in tarnation are we goin' that no one else can go? Bottom of a volcano?!"

"Worse." Kim frowned, reading Larry's grin. "We're going home."

* * *

The Kepler flew slowly toward Middleton, high above the low lying acid clouds that engulfed the city. Shortly after the initial Diablo attack, Drakken had ordered Middleton destroyed and the cybertronic demons had laid waste with an intense plasma storm that Kim, Ron, and their families had barely escaped. Now, there were burn holes scattered throughout the city that continued to glow five years later, and a hazy yellow fog that continued to erode the concrete buildings and steel girders still remained. Kim frowned, looking down at her scanner. She was glad that some of the people she had known in High School had managed to escape during the prom. Mr. Barkin, Tara, Josh... but there were many others that she only hoped could have escaped. She did her best to remember Monique and Felix, and the rest of the cheer squad but couldn't recall their faces other than vague details. "Almost to the drop point, Kim." Joss announced, slowing the Kepler to a crawl.

Kim shook the memories from her mind, looking over at Ron. "How's the suit feel?"

Ron stood, looking himself over. The battle suit he was wearing felt uncomfortably constricting, with small flexible plates that were woven over his chest, legs, and arms. Thicker, flat plates adorned his shoulders, and guards reminiscent of samurai haidate covered his hips and thighs. "I feel like a dork." he lied. While the suit itself was form fitting, climate controlled, and possibly the most awesome thing he'd ever worn in his life, he was more than a little concerned what would happen if he called upon his Monkey Powers while wearing it. "And I think I'm getting a wedgie."

"You look fine." Kim said, following Wade, Rufus, and Joss into the Kepler's cargo hold. "Better hood up, too." she said, pushing a button on her gauntlet. Her collar extended up her neck to her jawline, and a metallic blue helmet that took on the appearance of a Roman Centurion helm formed around her head with a silver visor covering her face behind the 'T' shaped slit that allowed her to see. Thin flexible plates grew and unfolded from behind her belt, crawling up her bare midriff to create a completely sealed suit. "Don't want any of that acid fog getting in." she said, her voice coming solely over the communication system in each member's suit.

Ron touched a button on his own gauntlet and as his collar extended, it seemed to tighten around his neck, causing him to gasp. Metal plating began to form, growing around his head and pinning his ears back, making him release a cry of surprise as he scrambled to hold the helmet back with his hands. He fell to his knees in a panic as the helmet clamped his jaw shut and his vision was covered by a dark faceplate. A sweeping neck guard grew into place to protect the back of his head and neck and he wound up panting on the floor at Kim's feet. "Gah! How do you breathe in this thing?!"

"Regularly." Kim said dryly, rolling her eyes. She looked around at her crew as Ron climbed to his feet. "Okay, we've got one hour to find this contact and get out again. I doubt our suits will stand up to the acid any longer than that." she said, looking at Wade for confirmation, who nodded. "Our chutes won't last more than a few seconds once deployed, so make sure you don't pull them until you absolutely have to."

"Chutes?" Ron asked in surprise as Kim slapped her hand on the cargo ejection control. The floor unfolded beneath the group and Ron's screams could be heard through each helmet as he scrambled for something to hold onto. "Whatever happened to landing?!"

Kim had her arms tucked closely to her sides, as did Wade and Joss as they dived toward their target. "The Kepler's holographic disguise won't hold up in the acidic atmosphere." Wade explained through the comm. "Hopefully nothing flies into it while it hovers up there."

"At least we don't have to worry about Diablos hanging over our heads since you and Ron took out Middleton's repeater station." Joss said. The silver lining was lost on Kim as the memories of rocketing through the city on Ron's old scooter came flooding back to her. Just before Drakken had taunted her with saving Erik and she went alone to face Shego and rescue her then fake boyfriend. An alarm in her heads up display jolted her back to the present as the team entered the yellow clouds of corrosive vapor that hung just above Middleton. The various readouts within her helmet began to fizzle with static and her comm signal became nothing more than dead air. Despite the altimeter in her field of vision, it felt like she was floating. She could feel no air rushing past her, and the fog blocked her vision of the ground she knew she was rushing toward.

Without warning, the thick yellow cloud vanished as Kim and her team broke through the canopy. "Pull chutes!" she ordered, activating her own parachute. Her heads up display instantly revealed her team's position and the untoppled buildings that were mere meters away. Rufus reported a touchdown, having reached terminal velocity earlier with his heavy robot body, dropping like an egg shaped rock that unfolded as he stood. Kim felt the familiar heavy tug of the rapid deceleration as her parachute opened. But it was only a few seconds before the tough material dissolved in the hostile atmosphere and she began to freefall again. Despite her greatly reduced peripheral vision behind her helmet, she caught sight of Ron falling past her. His parachute had disintegrated before it could fully deploy, and he was flailing in a panic, narrowly missing the corner of the skeletal frame of the Institute of Technology. "Ron, use your powers!" she ordered through her comm, but received no answer other than his high pitched screams. Kim ground her teeth, drew her energy pistol, and fired the underbarrel grapple launcher at the exposed girders of the Institute in one motion. Before Ron could strike the debris strewn pavement headfirst, she had swung in a wide arc and caught him around the waist with one arm, rolling. Kim and Ron came to a tumbling stop on the edge of a glowing pit of green smoke, the remnants of a plasma bomb from years before. "You okay, Ron?" she asked, holding him tightly as he teetered on the edge of the crater.

"Huh?" he asked, looking into her silver faceplate. "Yeah, I think so." he confirmed, yet refusing to let go. "Just like old times, huh?" he grinned behind his helmet.

"Sure. You, me... a devastated Middleton. Good times." Kim said without a hint of humor in her voice. Wade, Joss, and Rufus all stepped into the clearing in front of what was left of the Institute. "Okay, time to find this contact. Stay quiet, move fast, and we shouldn't have any trouble."

"I've got my scanner searching for his beacon, Kim." Wade said. "Nothing yet."

Kim nodded. "We'll head for the center of town. Let's roll."

The team made their way through the rubble that bridged the gap between Upperton and Middleton with very little difficulty. The Northern part of the former Tri-City area had only received the tail end of the destruction that Drakken had wrought upon Middleton. Each of them watched their battle suits power levels dwindle like a timer as the acid fog ate away at the cybertronic plating. As they made their way into Middleton, the faint red glow of synthodrone eyes could be seen through the fog. Two of them stood guard on either side of a force field that was Kim's quickest way into Middleton. "Wade, with me. The rest of you hang back and keep us covered." Kim ordered, moving quietly forward next to a partially dissolved dump truck. When Wade had joined her, she poked the barrel of her pistol out around the front of the truck, the image of the two synthodrones coming into focus on the heads up display inside her suit. "If we can get around deactivating any synthetics here, so much the better."

"I can try the holo, but it's hard to say how long it'll last in this soup." Wade replied. Kim nodded grimly, then gestured for him to advance. Wade tapped a number of buttons on his gauntlet, and the armored figure that stood before Kim shimmered for a moment. A blue ring of light emanated from his chest, replacing Wade with the typical outward appearance of a black and purple synthodrone with faintly glowing goggles and an energy rifle slung over his shoulder. Wade stepped out from behind the dump truck to face the synthetic guards, and in a deep electronic voice, greeted them. "Status?"

"Middleton is all clear." they replied in unison. Wade nodded and continued past them, stepping up to a intrinsically safe computer terminal that continued constant scans of the area beyond the force field. Wade grinned, amazed at how easy this mission might wind up being. A keyboard folded out from the terminal as he approached and he began quickly typing, executing commands and wirelessly downloading the patrol routes and pathways toward their destination into his suits computer. After a few moments, his grin faded as his arms shimmered from the black and purple disguise back to the drab grey of his battlesuit.

"Uh oh..." he said in surprise. "Kim?" he asked through his comm as the guards turned and leveled their rifles. Suddenly, the head of Kim's grapple punched through the chest of one of the synthodrones, pulling it back and into the murky yellow fog.

The second synthodrone seemed confused for a moment before settling its aim on Wade. A diamond edged blade split the mist, puncturing the two tone husk and spilling yellow synthogoo onto the broken pavement. "We'd better move." Joss said, passing through the murky clouds to retrieve her knife and return it to its hidden sheath on the small of her back. "These two goin' offline will probably be noticed."

Wade turned his attention back to the terminal, momentarily shutting down the glowing force field that was barring their path. "Don't worry too much. Synthodrones don't last long in this crud. The acid wrecks havoc on their signals, disconnecting them and sending them rogue." he explained, nodding that the portal was ready to pass through. "We should have a clear path from here on."

Kim looked down at her armor plating as she followed Joss and Ron. The metallic blue sheen was becoming increasingly dull and pockmarked, with wisps of smoke coming off of the metal. "Good. Our suits aren't going to last much longer." she announced as the force field reformed behind them.

* * *

Drakken watched through an observation window at more than a dozen humans of varying age, gender, and ethnicity that were lying on stainless steel examination tables and being monitored by red and black synthodrones. Although all of the humans were unconscious, some writhed in agony and screamed, while others were completely motionless and comatose. While the Styx project was nearing completion, the delivery of the weapon was still in its experimental phase, and as another life support monitor let out a steady tone to signal the end of another experimental human, the human half of Drakken's face winced and cringed. "Such a waste." he whispered to himself.

"Erik has returned with more captives, my Lord." said a red and black synthodrone from behind Drakken.

"Fine. Let's hope some of them fair better than the last batch."

"Lord Drakken..." came the deep haunting voice of Hephaestus, cutting off Drakken's thoughts. "Two synthodrones have terminated connection in Middleton."

"So?" Drakken retorted in annoyance. "It happens all the time." he continued, folding his arms over his chest, still speaking into the air as the synthodrones around him went about their duties.

"Cause is unknown." Hephaestus replied. "Probability that disruption was caused by corrosive atmosphere is eighty six percent."

"Only eighty six?" Drakken asked in curiosity. He held his metal chin in his artificial hand, thinking. While it certainly wasn't out of the ordinary for a synthodrone to go rogue within the restricted zone of Middleton, he had ordered his synthetic troopers out and the city of his arch foe shielded after its destruction. "No." he said at last, turning to exit the observatory with his cape billowing out behind him. "Show me their last moments of activity!" As Drakken approached a balcony that he often frequented lately to stare out at the yellow glow of Middleton only a few hundred miles away, his surroundings turned hazy, like a dream, and filled with yellow smoke. An unrecognizable form stood in acid fog, a blurry humanoid that could easily be mistaken for a synthodrone. As the first synthodrone that he watched through was deactivated, his point of view switched to the second. "Pause!" Drakken ordered. The first synthodrone was still in his field of view with a familiar grapple head poking through its chest. "Kim Possible..." Drakken hissed. "Of course... who else could survive in those conditions?" The recording of the synthodrones last moments faded and he shouted into the warm, industrial choked air. "Shego!"

Shego sighed at the sound of Drakken's voice in her head again. She was lying in the sand of California's deserts in an attempt to feel the sun like she used to. While it was true that she no longer had to fear a sunburn on her pale green skin, the biomechanical body that Drakken had resurrected her in also barely felt the warmth and pleasure that she remembered from sunbathing. Shego was finding herself to be more and more bored the longer she was here in Drakken's employ, with no longer being able to challenge herself. Nothing needed stolen. No one needed to be intimidated. Even the meager resistance that was left of humanity posed no threat, other than... "Kim Possible seems to have returned home, Shego. Go to Middleton as quickly as you can. A contingent of synthodrones will meet you there."

Shego grinned. "At least giving Kimmie a beat down will never get old." she said to herself, leaping to her feet and becoming a green and black blur across the sand.

* * *

"Signal's coming in now, Kim." Wade said, an alert showing up on his heads up display. He pointed toward a tall sign that reached up into the sky outside of a dilapidated and sprawling building. The marquee of the sign read 'The End', and Kim couldn't help but shake her head at the irony.

"Middleton High? Someone's got a sense of humor." she said, sarcasm clearly evident in her voice.

"I can't believe it's still standing in all of this." Joss commented, stepping up beside Kim and Wade.

"Something just moved past my leg..." Ron squeaked from behind, looking down into the fog. The acid was thicker in the restricted zone, and even the battlesuit sensors were being obstructed, laden with intermittent static.

"You're imagining things." Rufus said in his translated, monotone voice as he walked by to gather with the others.

"Think it's a trap?" Kim asked her companions that had joined her.

"Seems a little too obvious, doesn't it?" Wade asked. "Your old High School in decent condition in the middle of a cloud of corrosive fallout?"

"This IS Drakken we're talkin' about, ain't it?" Joss reminded them. "He never was one for bein' subtle."

Ron was doing his best to pay attention to the conversation going on between the rest of the team, but a flicker of dozens of dull red lights seemed to blink at him from out of the surrounding darkness. "Guys?" he asked in a whimper. The sound of dripping fluid came from behind him and Ron slowly turned to see the corroded husk of a synthodrone that seemed plagued with translucent yellow blisters that pulsed and throbbed. A sickeningly wet gurgle came from its vocalizer and it reached a shrunken, drooping arm toward Ron before it exploded in a yellow mist, plastering him in rotted synthogoo.

Kim stood with her pistol smoking, scanning the area. "I thought you said this area didn't have any synthetics, Wade." she said in irritation.

"Must be rogues. The corrosive atmosphere is tough on the synthogoo. Disconnects them from the network." Wade replied, putting his back to Joss. He activated his scanner suite, and a growing mass of red lights overlaid the terrain. "And I think we just woke them up." Like an old zombie movie, torn dark forms began to rise out of the fog. Deep echoing voices were trying to acknowledge long lost orders, but coming out as only sorrowful groans. "We'll have to bolt for the school!" Joss shouted, her pistols beginning to fire with regular discharges of energy. "I'll plot a path..." Wade began.

Kim shook her head. "Don't bother. Ron and I know the way." she said solemnly.

* * *

Kim Possible smiled, feeling the warmth of the sun on her face, arms, legs, and bare midriff. She stood on the doorstep of her family's home, and after enjoying a filling breakfast of pancakes and eggs of her mother's creation, she was looking forward to a fresh week of high school. She smoothed her burgundy skirt as she walked down the path to the street, and adjusted the black collar she wore around her throat above her short, black shirt. It was a beautiful late summer morning and she was looking forward to her first cheerleading practice of the new year.

"KP!" Ron shouted, charging out of his home that sat next door to hers. He had his typical athletic t-shirt on over top of a black long sleeve shirt, and a set of khakis that seemed always at risk of sliding off of his hips. "Is this year gonna rock, or what?!" he shouted excitedly, skidding to a stop beside Kim.

"I just hope we don't have the same problems with electives we had last year." Kim said with a smile. "I don't think I could take another year of Home Economics."

"Never fear, KP! The Ron-Man's got this year all planned out!" he grinned back, walking backward to face her. "Two more years of High School and we are free!"

"Just remember our deal, Ron." Kim smiled slyly. "You get to choose the electives, but you're joining my core classes." she said as they approached Monique's home. "You're going to have to start working harder if you're going to keep up."

Ron waved away her concern. "Nevermind the harsh, Kim. I have a feeling you'll be an inspiration to..."

"No, you're not copying off of me." Kim retorted, cutting him off. "Who knows what the future could hold, Ron. These advanced classes could be useful!"

Ron snorted. "I'll admit that your chemical knowhow saved our skins when Drakken got ahold of our DNA to make those syntho clones, but come on!" he said in an exaggerated flourish of his arms. "Like we'll ever need that in the real world!"

"Synthogoons are a part of our real world, Ron." Kim said offhandedly. She waved as Monique approached the sidewalk, and embraced her friend in a hug.

"I don't know about you guys, but I am psyched!" Monique said with an excited squeal. "This year is going to be incredible!"

The group continued on toward Middleton High, with both girls and Rufus having to drag Ron past the Buenos Nachos restaurant that they often frequented on the walk home. But soon, the enormity of the school was before them, and Kim looked up at the double doors that she had sneaked through after the bell countless times. Been ridiculed by Bonnie behind them even more. She hesitated at the base of the steps, a whimsical smile playing at her lips. This year was going to be different. She could feel it. Ron turned to look quizzically at her from his place a few steps above. "You coming, Kim?" he asked, his voice a little deeper, with a hint of static. It was as though he was talking into a radio with his head in a bucket...

* * *

"What?"

"You okay, Kim?"

It was Joss's voice that snapped Kim out of her reverie, and she shook her head, staring up at the corroded doors of Middleton High. The sun was nowhere to be seen, replaced by dark greenish black clouds that glowed with the moon shining through them. The harsh reality of their current situation caused Kim's smile to fade and she nodded, following her team up the steps. As Wade opened the double doors, they could all feel the gust of air that rushed out, pushing the fog away. As the door closed behind them, the hallway began to light up in a slow sequence, bidding them to continue on.

"This place is creepier than I remember..." Ron murmured, a shakiness still evident in his voice.

Kim narrowed her eyes and growled at the trail of lights that activated as they moved cautiously down the hall. "Let's find this contact and get out of here. I'm done reminiscing."

Ron had already wandered ahead, and had opened a locker door. "Boo Yah! Check it out, Rufus! My stash of Diablo sauce is still here!" he shouted, his words echoing loudly through the halls of the school. "And hey, my petition to bring back Naco Night..."

"Ron, that's all at least five years old! Just leave it alone and come on!" Kim pleaded as the rest of the group continued on.

"Are you kidding?! This could very well be the last of the Diablo sauce in the world! I can't just leave it!" he argued, stuffing a paper bag full of the red and yellow packets.

"Fine." Kim conceded. "Just keep up."

They continued through the strobing halls of Middleton High, such as it was, until the lights led them to the familiar double doors of the gymnasium. Joss already had her pistols unholstered, while Wade continued scanning the area around them, looking for any sign that this too, could still be a trap. With Rufus shuffling along behind her in his bulky armored body, and Ron struggling to catch up, Kim lunged through the doors. Her visor lit up the vast, dark room in pale green, revealing the still heavily decorated walls and ceiling from prom night. Even the disco ball still hung in the center of the room, glinting in Kim's light amplified vision. With no motion within the shadows of the room, the crew relaxed slightly.

"How'd all this stuff survive the bombing and fallout?" Joss asked, using the end of her pistols to sift through several ribbons and other items that were strewn around the room. Although the balloons had all popped or deflated from time, most of the music equipment was still intact, and Kim knelt down at the DJ's station on the stage, wiping off the dust with a glove.

"I don't know, Joss. Considering the building's still got power, I'd say someone's been using it. Who or how is beyond me, though." Wade said, observing his wrist computer with obvious interest. "Somehow, there's still an atmosphere in here, keeping the building pressurized. The air's safe to breath." he added, opening his visor with a soft hiss. "And better than anything I've breathed for awhile."

As the rest of the crew retracted their helmets for a breath of fresh air, Kim touched the power button on the DJ's compact disc player, automatically starting the next track that had been waiting five years to play since Shego had crashed the Prom to kidnap Erik.

_I know we've been friends forever_

_But now I think I'm feeling something totally new_

_And after all this time_

_I've opened up my eyes, now I see_

_You were always with me..._

Kim abruptly stopped the music as Joss, Wade, Rufus, and Ron looked her way in confusion. Retracting her own helmet, Kim sighed. "So where is this contact?" she asked

impatiently.

As she did, a voice from one side of the gymnasium caught everyone's attention. "Greetings, Kim. It's been a long time."

Standing in a silver cloak stood a man with a relaxed and jovial stature. His short brown hair was combed back, and dark blue eyes were perhaps the most peaceful that Kim had seen in a long time. His face was missing the lines of stress of living in a wartorn world, and he grinned at Kim and Ron's obvious surprise. "You can't be who I think you are." Kim said suspiciously. "You look like Felix Renton. And you're..."

Felix chuckled. "Standing?" Kim blushed slightly, recalling her multitude of faux pas at Felix's disability when they'd first met. Felix opened the silver cloak that had been draped over his shoulders, and revealed a mechanical harness that he was wearing around his waist. Tethers reached down and wrapped around his thighs and calves. "Cyberrobotic Vertebrae Bypass. It gets around those pesky bad sectors in my spinal cord that kept me from using my legs." he explained. "As you've already discovered, you don't need your armor in here."

"No offense, but we'll keep the armor on. Though I will admit, the fresh air is nice." Kim smiled politely, still trying to find any indication that this Felix wasn't real.

Felix returned the gesture, and nodded. "None taken. Maybe when you come to Eden Two, we'll suit you all up in one of these." he said, gesturing to the cloak. "Completely resistant to acid, cold, heat, and even low yield energy."

"Nice." Wade grinned. "But how? No one's been able to develop anything that high tech the last while except for Drakken."

"Not here, no." Felix said. "But in Eden Two, we've got nothing but time and peace."

* * *

Shego peered through the yellow fog at the synthodrones around her. They had just entered the restricted zone of Middleton, and found a rogue drone that had been attacked recently with an energy weapon. "Spread out!" She shouted. "I want every sector swept and Possible found. I'll take one platoon with... with..." Shego stuttered. It felt like a migraine was creeping up on her, and she ground her teeth, putting her index fingers on her temples. "With me. We'll... get... rrr... Drakken!" she called out. She put a hand on the corroded wall of a nearby building to steady herself, watching her glow erupt and push through the already weakened structure. "What's going... going on?" she asked in panicked irritation, as her body twitched out of her control.

Drakken turned from his holographic design tablet that hovered in his throne room, concentrating on Shego's status. "Well, this is unexpected."

"Unexpected?!" Shego shouted, nearly crumbling to her knees.

"Well apparently the acid fog is affecting your biomechanical systems. Erik was able to withstand the corrosive mist, but your systems must be more sensitive." Drakken said, realizing his mistake in comparing her to Erik. "Probably another side effect of Possible interfering in your reestablishment."

Shego staggered to her feet and grimaced. "I'm fine. If Kimmie's here, she's mine."

* * *

Felix stepped forward, digging into a pocket of his cloak and pulling out a small optical disk. He held it out to Kim and his face grew more serious. "Here are the coordinates of the new checkpoint for the path to Eden Two."

Kim reached out to take it, her eyes never leaving his. She handed the optical disk to Wade, then tilted her head to the side in curiosity. "So what is Eden Two? No one seems to be able to give us a straight answer."

Felix raised his eyebrows and smiled before he spoke, as though telling a fond story of his child hood. "It's exactly what it sounds like, Kim. It's a place completely untouched, and untouchable by the kind of evil that's destroyed the world. I know it sounds impossible, but you of all people should know better."

"Felix..." Ron said, stepping up beside Kim to approach him. He hesitated a moment, glancing at Kim before continuing. "Do you know a Japanese woman named Yori?"

"Sure do, Ron-Man. She just found us a few weeks ago." Felix replied. Kim frowned for a moment before hiding it. If Ron had stayed with Yori, he'd be in Eden Two now, living the life he always wanted.

"Are you tellin' me you let a clan of ninjas in, but you're not gonna let us?" Joss asked.

"The thing is, in order to keep Eden Two secret, no one can leave until Drakken's defeated. We make sure everyone knows this before we let them in, and they make the choice. And let's face it, Kim; you wouldn't be content to sit and wait while he continues on here." Felix continued.

Kim recalled what she had told Walter Nelson about staying in Sanctuary. She shook her head reluctantly, despite knowing that they could all use a rest in the kind of place Felix was talking about. "No, I suppose I wouldn't."

"The decision didn't come lightly, Kim. But we all agreed that if the world can be saved, you're the one that can do it. We all want to come home, but the best we can do right now is helping the ones that can't help themselves. The rest is up to you."

"But no pressure..." Kim said sarcastically.

* * *

"Life forms detected." one synthodrone said.

Shego was clenching and unclenching her fists and grinding her teeth hard enough to cause the odd spark to flash between them. "Fine. Des... destroy them. All. Destroy them all." She finally completed. "Where is she?"

"An undamaged structure formerly designated the Middleton High School." the synthodrone replied.

Shego's lips twitched in a mask of agonized glee. "Little cliche, don't you think Kimmie?" she asked into the air. Wisps of memories passed through Shego's mind. The last time she had been to the school, Drakken had sent her to fetch Erik when he was a mere synthodrone, and posing as Possible's boyfriend. "Gat...gather the tr...troops and converrrrrge..." she ordered, her voice slurring as she stuttered. She held her head in her hands, shouting through grinding teeth. "Go!" The synthodrones nodded and turned away from Shego, marching toward the school's gymnasium.

* * *

"Everyone admires you, Kim. You've done a lot for the world, both before and after Drakken took over. Afterall, if not for you, Eden Two may never have existed..."

Kim looked up at him in confusion, and opened her mouth to question Felix more when the external doors to the gymnasium exploded inward in a shower of energy and billowing acid fog. Immediately, Kim's team activated their helmets, sealing their battlesuits and taking cover behind the flimsy tables that remained set up throughout the room. "Felix!" Kim shouted, looking for the silver cloak.

Felix had turned away from the battle and was part way through the storage room doorway when he flashed a wry smile back at Kim, brandishing a white box from under his cloak. "Don't worry, Kim. We have every confidence in you. Until we meet again, here's something to hold you over..." he said, sliding the box across the floor toward her before running through the door.

Kim grabbed the box and flinched as a bolt of energy caused a piece of the table she had been hiding behind to explode in a shower of plastic and chip board. "Felix!" she shouted again, but he was already gone. "Ron, get Felix! We'll have to protect him!"

"Will do, KP!" he replied, moving awkwardly in his battle suit toward the stage. The rest of the team continued to fire into the fog as windows were smashed in and synthodrones began to rappel in. "Felix!" he shouted into the storage room, but no answer came. He stepped into the cramped room, which was still filled with various sports equipment and looked around, struggling to activate his battlesuit's various vision modes and frowning at not using his own mystically enhanced senses. When the green haze of the suit's light amplification filled his vision, the room was undeniably empty, with no other exit than the one he was still occupying. "Felix?" he asked once more before backing out of the storage room again.

Through the perforated brick wall of the gymnasium, Kim caught sight of a group of synthodrones that were continuing to fire at the school in an attempt to flank her team. With a determined growl, Kim threw herself through the wall, her armored plating absorbing most of the impact as the cement bricks and the synthodrones collapsed around her. Alarms began strobing within her helmet, filling her heads up display with warnings of dropping power levels and imminent shutdown of her battle armor. As she slid to a stop, Kim pulled her energy pistol from her thigh holster and fired several successive bolts into the shadows in the murky acid fog.

As Joss and Wade fell into place to her left side, Kim's targeting reticle searched the mist, highlighting a seemingly endless line of adversaries before settling on a lithe mechanical form with glowing green claws. "Shego..." Kim whispered to herself, biting out the name like a curse. A volley of green energy blew chunks of cement out from behind her as she ducked, and she turned to Joss and Wade. "Get to the Kepler! I'll keep her busy!"

"But Kim!" Joss protested, halting her salvo for a moment to look back at her cousin. Despite the Centurion style helmet and reflective faceplate though, Joss knew Kim meant it. "Roger that, Cap'n..." she replied, taking Wade by the arm and leading him away.

"Ron and Rufus, you too." Kim ordered, rolling to the side and returning fire as best she could. "Make a path!" While Rufus replied with a series of untranslated squeaks and chirps, a sign his robot body's power was dwindling as well, there was nothing from Ron. "Ron?"

Suddenly distracted, Kim was thrown back through the gymnasium wall as Shego surged forward in a burst of speed.. "Snooze you lose, Princess!"

Before Kim could struggle to her feet, Shego was standing over her and struck the wooden floor with a glowing hand as Kim narrowly twisted out of the way. Rolling on her back, Kim tucked her legs up and the myonetic components whined as Kim put full force into kicking Shego away and leaping to a kneeling position. Synthodrones were beginning to file into the gymnasium, barreling through what was left of the decorated room, but holding their fire as Shego charged at Kim again. Kim blocked each strike, using her gauntlets to shield herself from Shego's energy wrapped hands. Despite grinding her teeth in determination, a smile began to play at the edge of her lips. Synthodrones were too slow to keep up to Kim in her battle armor, and had become boring and monotonous. But Shego's enhanced speed and strength were reminding Kim of their old battles. Before the myonetic powered armor. Before the synthetics. Before her friends and family were displaced in their own world. Before her father died...

The sudden reminder of the fate of her father caused Kim to shout out as she twisted Shego's arm and flipped her considerable weight over her shoulder to throw the synthomech into the wall. Shego planted her feet into the concrete bricks and back flipped to a standing position. Without hesitation, Shego blasted the floor at Kim's feet, throwing splinters of charred flooring in all directions. Kim performed a midair somersault to bring her within striking distance of Shego and began another flurry of attacks that resulted in a series of dull, metal on metal sounds. Shego seemed to take each one with a grin despite the obvious denting that occurred, instead swiping her clawed, glowing fingers at Kim until finally the distinctive sound of tearing steel echoed through Kim's helmet.

"That sh-should match the scars on the arrrrrrm I left you last time." Shego said, her voice pausing like a skipping compact disk. She suddenly stumbled back against the broken wall behind her, holding her head and shouting in pained confusion. "Drakken!"

Lord Drakken was watching Shego's progress intently in his mind's eye, being careful not to make his presence known. She always did hate it when he watched over her shoulder. "Leave the area, Shego. Before the fog manages to damage your primary systems. Let the drones finish off Possible and her team."

Shego shook her head, searching for Kim. "Like Hell!" she retorted. Her vision was full of static now, and Kim was on the floor in front of her, split into a dozen different images. "Y-you're minnnnnne now!" she shouted, firing a blast at each of the images to be sure.

Kim was lifting herself to her knees as red flashes of light were going off in her helmet, issuing warnings of power failure. "Abort!" she shouted at the computer system. The yellow fog had filled the gymnasium by now and if Shego didn't digitize her first, she would melt within seconds of losing her battle armor. Behind her, Shego had begun firing blasts of energy wildly, tearing through synthodrones and the schools substructure at random. As the battle armor that protected Kim flickered and powered down and the acid fog began to devour her GJ uniform and the skin beneath it, a glimmer of blue light flashed throughout the room and engulfed her. "Ron?" she asked, feeling his arms cradle her. He was no longer wearing his own armor, and even the armor blueprint was hanging off of him in plastic-like rags, leaving only his boxer shorts.

"Let's get you out of here, KP. Looks like Shego had too much of this acid soup." he grinned, ducking under a random blast of green energy.

"Let's hope she chokes on it." Kim rasped, her lungs already sore from the minimal amount of the acid fog that she had breathed in. "The box..." she said, pointing down at the container Felix had given her. Ron's halo seemed to both protect her, and soothe her pain. Ron awkwardly picked up the small box and handed it to Kim to hold as he carefully exited the gymnasium. The pair looked up to see the Kepler flying in low and with a grunt, Ron leaped up and into the waiting entry ramp.

* * *

The Global Justice base was quiet, with Joss and Rufus tinkering with components around the perimeter of the control room, and Wade attempting to discover what happened to Ron's battle suit while the mystical blonde ninja master looked on with a frown from behind, trying to explain the events that led to the suits destruction. The whooshing sound of a door drew everyone's attention to Kim as she entered the room. Severe burn marks adorned her face and abdomen where the skin was directly exposed to the acid fog, and she moved slowly and with a grimace, as though her entire body was in pain. In her hands was the small box that they had managed to get away with. Whatever it was, Kim knew it was something that Felix wanted them all to have.

"You oughta still be restin'." Joss said, folding her arms.

Kim managed a smile. "Just can't resist giving orders, now that you're in charge of me, can you?" she said, her voice still hoarse.

Joss smiled back playfully. "Bein' the only thang close to a medic has it's perks."

As Kim neared the central computer console, Ron stood with a frown, rushing over to pull a chair out for her. "Ron, I've got burns. I'm not pregnant. I'm fine." she said, placing the box on the desk.

"Of course not." Joss whispered to herself. "You won't let him get close enough." she grinned, earning her a dark glare from Kim. Ron hadn't seemed to notice though, and instead took a seat beside Kim, eyeing the container on the counter.

"So what's in the box, Kim?" Wade asked, his own curiosity getting the best of him. There were two latches on the container, one on each end, and as Kim twisted the knobs to undo them, a hiss of air was sucked into the box and an aroma that none of them had experienced in five years escaped. "Is that?"

"Spiced beef... Beans... Sauce..." Ron sniffed, his eyes closing and his mouth watering.

"Not just beef... That's REAL beef!"

"And veggies!"

"Ha ha! And you all mocked my Diablo sauce!" Ron shouted, lifting the paper bag he had taken from his locker at Middleton High.

Inside the container were five chimeritos, complete with all real ingredients, from the bean sauce to the flat bread. Ron grinned, opening his hand to grab one of the chimeritos, then paused at the sound of the rest of the team clearing their throats in unison. He frowned at the rest of the crowd, who gestured at Kim with raised eyebrows. Letting out a sigh, he carefully dug his hand into the box and lifted out one of the wrapped meals, setting it down on the desk in front of Kim. "Cap'ns prerogative, Kim." Joss said.

Kim looked down at the food that had been placed in front of her and gave a half smile before looking around at the rest of the crew. "I guess this means Eden Two is real."

"It has to be." Wade agreed.

Ron was shifting his weight from side to side, slurping the saliva from his lips. "Can we discuss the higher possibilities of Mexican food theorem AFTER we eat?!" Rufus had also jumped up onto the desk and was eyeing the container, sniffing the air and readying his claws for an invasive exploration of the chimerito. "Mmmm hmmm!"

"Bon appetite." Kim said, taking her food and kicking herself away from the desk to roll out of the way. The existence of Eden Two couldn't be denied anymore, and Kim relished in the thought that maybe there was a reason to save the world. Somewhere, there were people waiting to come back.

* * *

**A big thanks to Mengsk, who pointed out earlier that I somehow missed putting page breaks in this chapter.**


	11. Calling Down the Thunder

**Calling Down the Thunder**

Kim and Ron came to a stop on the rocket propelled scooter to see the command tower blast into the sky. There were Diablo bots blocking out the moon as they flew overhead, and rain spattered on the two teen's faces. "We're too late!" Ron shouted, watching the trail of smoke.

Kim glared at the ascending rocket. "We're not too late. We've just got to get to dad. He's a rocket scientist, maybe he can..." but she was cut off as they were both blown off of their feet with the explosion of the top of Buenos Nacho headquarters. A chain reaction tore through it and several Diablos dropped from the sky and landed, as though standing guard.  
Kim crawled to her feet and reached for Ron's cell phone, dialing a phone number out of reflex. "Wade, where's my dad?!" she shouted with pain, fear and worry breaking to the surface of her normally calm exterior.

"Inside..." came Wade's tear filled voice. Kim shook her head and dropped her arms, burying her face in Ron's chest. "He was inside..."

* * *

Kim's eyes snapped open from the nightmare she had been having and her hand instantly went to the scar that covered half of her face. The acid burn was healing nicely, all things considered, with Joss applying a regenerative salve to the affected areas. The muscle tissue and nerves below however, were still aching and Kim reached to her night stand for a glass of water. She raised the glass to her lips, then sighed as she realized it was empty. Resting the glass in her lap, she sucked in a deep breath, grimaced at the stubbornness of her still healing lungs, then began a heaving fit of coughing that sent painful tremors through her entire body.

When the lung spasms had subsided, Kim looked in irritation at the call button that Joss had set up. With effort, she swung her legs over the side of her bed and slid her bare feet into a pair of pink slippers, quietly moving toward the exit with the empty glass in hand. Since returning from Middleton, and the subsequent gut aches from eating spicy Mexican food after five years of synthesized rations, Kim had avoided the rest of the team as much as possible. Joss, of course, was looking after her wounds and was relishing being able to give Kim orders, as the Captain wasn't fit for duty. Her little cousin also looked upon her with medical indifference, offering little console in the way of bedside manner, instead prescribing an intense massage from some strong, familiar hands. Predictably, Kim refused.

Kim was also keeping her thigh length red hair out of the braid she normally put it into to keep it out of her way, and instead adopted her old hair style in an effort to hide the scarred portion of her face. With practiced stealth, she moved past Wade's lab, where he was experimenting with Ron and various technologies. During their last mission, when they had infiltrated Middleton to meet Felix Renton, Ron had somehow shredded the battlesuit that had been fitted to him when he called on his Monkey Powers. If Kim hadn't lost power in her own battlesuit in the fight with Shego and had thus been exposed to the corrosive atmosphere, she would have been furious with him. The loss of a battlesuit was a major blow to their resources. Even when Rufus had detonated his robotic body to escape Shego in Sanctuary, it had taken weeks to reprogram the blueprint he wore as a collar. Losing the blueprint as well meant the battlesuit was no more. She listened at the doorway for a moment as Ron and Wade spoke, with the boy genius trying to get whatever information he could out of the mystical ninja master.

"A tingly feeling isn't exactly helpful, Ron."

"Well I can't explain it any other way. It was like the suit was trying to squeeze me out, but my monkey powers weren't budging."

"Sounds like similar magnetic poles repelling each other. And you said the energy we were jamming while you were fighting Erik outside the Kepler did the same thing?"

"Yeah. All the little lightnings just ended at my glow. That's what Erik noticed."

"I imagine that could be what makes your powers so effective against him and the other synthetics." The conversation paused for a moment before Wade continued. "Well, let's run some tests."

"Aw! I hate tests..." Kim shook her head at Ron's complaint and smiled. She would give anything to be back in school and taking tests again. As she began to creep away from the doorway, the shuffling of feet told her that her presence had been noticed. "KP?" Ron asked as he stepped out into the hall with her, dressed only in his boxer style underwear.

Kim let out a soft sigh, dismissing the hope that she'd be able to continue avoiding the rest of the team. Crossing her arms over her bare abdomen to cover the scars there, she half turned to him and peered through her auburn bangs that covered the acid burn on her face. "How's it going, Ron?"

"Wade's got me hooked up to stuff to see why the battlesuit didn't like my Monkey Powers." he answered plainly. Wade could be heard cursing under his breath as equipment tumbled off of shelves with Ron's sudden escape into the hall. Electrodes and cables were running to Ron's temples, chest, arms, and legs. "I think these are really gonna hurt when they come off." he continues, picking at the electrodes that were clinging to the hair that had grown in on his chest and limbs.

"I'm sure you'll be fine." she replied quietly, trying to turn away.

"Kim..." he started reluctantly. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you that my Powers didn't let some of Wade's equipment work." he said with a frown. "I guess I felt more like part of the team, acting like they were kinda like a uniform, y'know?"

Kim nodded. "I know, Ron. But I have to know anything that might be a problem."

Ron smiled slightly. "I won't let you down again, Kim." Kim nodded, feeling suddenly uncomfortable with his brown eyes not wavering. He rubbed the back of his neck nervously a moment before reaching out to move her bangs out of the way. "Scar's healing nicely, Kim."

Reflexively, Kim pulled away from him to let her bangs fall back like a curtain that covered the ruined half of her face. "Uh, thanks Ron." She was thankful for her lengthy hair, feeling herself blush. She had never felt uncomfortable around Ron before. He had seen her horribly ill, transformed into a human/monkey hybrid, and even naked before. Looking for a quick escape, she held up her empty glass. "Uhm, I'm just gonna get some water."

Ron's eyes widened. "Oh, sure. Yeah. Sorry, KP." he smiled politely, as though feeling suddenly aware that he'd gotten in her way. Wade began shouting unintelligible orders from the lab, and Ron slunk back in, followed shortly by a tearing sound and a pained, high pitched scream.

"Well quit picking at them and I wouldn't have to adjust them!" Wade could be heard commenting before Kim crept away.

Carrying on through the vast network of halls of the Global Justice base, Kim reached her destination of the central kitchen and stopped short at the sound of glossy pages being turned. Joss could be seen flipping through a magazine, probably from before the millennium, murmuring to herself as she read and sipped coffee. At least that was one luxury GJ had plenty of. "I know you're there, Kim. I can hear your breathing."

Kim cursed to herself at her raspy breathing. Her lungs were still too weak to hold any air in and her damaged trachea was still whistling like a wet respirator. Turning the corner quietly, Kim stepped into the cafeteria to face her little cousin. "What's the sitch, Joss?" she asked, moving quickly toward the water filtrator. While she normally would have just taken water from her own bathroom sink, Joss had suggested the freshwater, rather than the recycled, to avoid infection. The concept of which had grossed Kim out enough that she hadn't argued, and may never drink from the other taps again.

"Ron and Wade are tryin' to figure out the battlesuit problem. I'm checking out nineties fashions, and Rufus is napping." she explained.

"Twenty hours a day to remain healthy." Kim recited from Ron's rules of Naked Mole Rat care that she had been forced to memorize back in High School. A lot of memories from before the Diablo War had been scraped up by returning to Middleton, many of which used to be happy memories, but were now tainted by loss. "So how is Wade's research into Mystical Monkey Power going?"

Joss seemed to giggle at that. "As well as can be expected for any scientist tryin' to get answers out of Ron. I'm personally sensin' a Ron Factor flashback"  
Kim rolled her eyes. It amazed her just how much Joss knew about their missions before the Diablo War. Even some of the classified Global Justice ones. She filled her glass an inch from the top with filtered water, drinking down half of it before continuing her conversation. "Hey Joss, how much do you know about this Hephaestus thing?"

Joss looked up at Kim in disbelief. "You're asking this now?"

Kim shrugged with a frown. "I've got some time on my hands, it seems." she drank the rest of her water, and moved to refill her glass. The dehydration from her wounds seemed unbearable at the moment.

"They didn't tell us too much about Drakken's tools of destruction, but I reckon your Dad would have the answers you're lookin' fer. He did work on the project, after all."  
Kim thought about Joss' words for a moment, sipping at her water. She did have to wonder why she didn't try to get more information about the Hephaestus project, and the nagging feeling of how her father had been involved in the project nagged at her. Whether his intentions had been for good or not didn't really matter now though, as Drakken had already used the cybertronic technology to take over the world. Finally, she nodded. "I guess that would be one way to spend my downtime."

"Yeah, or you could actually get some..."

"Joss, stop. Nothing's going to happen between Ron and I." Kim said with a growl as she walked toward the door of the cafeteria.

"I was actually gonna say rest, but you've obviously got somethin' else on yer brain." Joss grinned. Kim felt her face flush red, and she left without saying another word.

* * *

The command room was quiet except for the whir of several computer systems, and the lights brightened as Kim entered. "Dad?" she called as she descended the short flight of stairs into the room. The holographic representation of James Possible gathered in a shimmer of hundreds of pixels of light in the center of the computer desk.

"Hey there, Kimmie cub. How're you feeling?" he asked with typical fatherly concern.

Despite knowing that the image before her was only a hologram, it felt good hearing his voice and concern again. "Better. Joss has been nagging at me to rest."

Dr. Possible smiled. "That's great, honey. Is there anything I can help with?"

"Dad, I need to know everything you've got on Hephaestus." Kim replied, dropping the friendly demeanor. If she was going to bring down Drakken, she needed to know how it all happened. "From the beginning."

Dr. Possible seemed to frown at her request, and took a deep breath. "Are you sure? It's really rather dull."

"I'm sure. If it doesn't have anything interesting, then it'll help put me to sleep." she said with a wry smile.

Dr. Possible cleared his throat before beginning. "Well, the Hephaestus Project began the same night you went to South America to help with that robotic tick..."

* * *

**September, 2002. Three Years before the Diablo War **

Professor Robert Chen sat comfortably in the space observatory located just outside of Middleton. His friend and laboratory partner, Professor Ramesh, sat across from him on the other side of the chess board that they often used when the cloud cover kept them from taking obvious readings of the starry sky. At the moment, Chen's pieces were mostly behind Ramesh's side of the chess board, with the other Professor's pieces closing in on his King. "I think you are about to have your booty kicked once again." Ramesh announced in his East Indian accent.

Chen stared at the board, his chin resting in the palm of one hand as he thought. "Don't be so sure, my friend. I'm feeling rather lucky tonight." He moved a Pawn piece the last step toward Ramesh's side of the board and smiled. "Queen please!"

"Oh, I did not even notice you sneaking that piece by. But it will do you no good as I will have your King in two moves." Ramesh chided as he replaced Chen's pawn with the Queen.

"We'll see." As Ramesh moved another piece into position, Chen grinned. "This is a little move I like to call Castling." he said, switching positions with his King and Rook pieces. "Ha! Checkmate!" he shouted, standing up and pumping his arms in the air. "Score another for the Chen-Man!" he continued as Ramesh sat staring at the chess board. Neither of them noticed the red proximity alarm that was flashing red beside the massive telescope in the center of the room. Not until the ground shook, knocking their chess board to the floor. Coffee cups shattered, and various lab equipment rattled along the countertops. "Earthquake?" Chen asked his friend, trying to steady himself.

Ramesh looked around the room at the damage that had been caused so suddenly. The shaking had already stopped, as though caused by an instant impact rather than tremors. "Perhaps it is my gods punishing you for such an obvious cheat." he snickered. "I do not believe it was a earthquake though. Too sudden." Finally, the red flashing ala caught his eye and he pointed. "Impact?"

Chen turned as well, his heart beginning to beat loudly in his chest. "For something to cause that kind of a shockwave, it has to be close! Quick, calculate it's trajectory!" he ordered, turning to several different computer systems and noting various readings.

After only a few moment, Ramesh had a relative location calculated. "According to this, it is about ten miles from here."

Both astronomers hesitated for a moment as the weight of the situation occurred to them. "Get to the jeep!" they both said in unison, clambering toward the exit. Both professors slid along the dirt path that surrounded the observatory before climbing into the soft top Jeep. The drive over rough, road-less terrain didn't seem to take as long as it did, with Chen at the wheel and trying to avoid trees and other obstacles, while Ramesh did his best to pinpoint the object's location on his folded maps.

"I cannot write very legibly with all of this bouncing around you're doing!"

"Well it's not my fault whatever it is didn't land on the interstate!"

Suddenly, Chen brought the Jeep to a stop, and Ramesh looked up in alarm, wondering what caused the vehicle to come to a halt. Following his friend's gaze, he saw the orange glow that was piercing the fog and dust cloud from the object's impact. "I don't believe that that is any kind of meteor I have ever seen..." Ramesh said, his mouth gaping open.

Chen said nothing, and instead climbed slowly out of the Jeep and moved toward the glow. Fumbling with his seatbelt, Ramesh followed. His entire body was trembling, as though cold, but the residual heat of the impact was making him sweat. He watched Chen climb up a slope of freshly plowed dirt in the middle of the field they had stopped in, his silhouette clearly visible in the dark thanks to the intense orange glow. "You have got to see this!"

Ramesh climbed the slope to stand beside Chen, and realized he was out of breath as he looked down at the black, glassy orb that had cut a three mile swath of destruction. Around the smooth ball hovered an orange, glowing fog that clung to it like a planet's atmosphere. "Holy Cow..."

* * *

"So Hephaestus is some kind of alien computer?" Kim asked, finding the story far more interesting than her father led her to believe she would.

"Oh, it's more than just a computer. The team that Chen and Ramesh brought in to study it soon discovered it was a kind of forge for the cybertronic technology. Hence the name..."

"Hephaestus... after the Greek metalworker." Kim finished. "So is that when you were brought in?"

"Chen and Ramesh hadn't even told me about it until we all met up again in that BeBe fiasco. They showed me the technology, but never let on about the forge itself until a year later when Dr. Agle went rogue. By then, I was so involved in the project that I didn't think to question the origins of it." Dr. Possible explained with a frown. "I'm sorry, Kimmie cub. If I had paid more attention, maybe none of this would have happened."

"Oh, Dad." Kim said, wanting badly to hold her father again. Was that why he had gone to face Drakken when he had drove Ron to BN Headquarters that night? Because he had felt responsible for what the Hephaestus Project had created? She heaved a sigh before looking up at the hologram again. "Wait... Agle? As in Fen Agle?" she asked, then smiled in recognition. "Oh yeah! That was when Ron was obsessed with those stupid rules." she said to herself with a fond chuckle. After a few moments, she shook her head and turned back to her father. "What else can you tell me?"

* * *

**November, 2003. Two years before the Diablo War.**

Doctor Fenwick Agle grinned maniacally at the blueprint in front of him. The Jupiter Project was well underway, now that he had been given access to the Hephaestus technology. The forge was amazing! It spoke to him whenever he came near, pulling ideas from his mind and turning them into real components with which to create a full size exploratory robot. Nevermind that it was that Dr. Porter's blueprints that he had fed the machine; she didn't have the clearance to even see the Hephaestus briefing. Soon, he wouldn't even need Porter's help with the project, and would construct the explorer himself. All he needed to do was reroute the power that the forge was requesting.

"Fen, you stole my schematics!" came a shout from over Fen's shoulder, causing him to nearly leap out of his lab coat and quickly roll up the Space Center's blueprint. If he were to be caught rerouting power, it would not only end his career, but possibly land him in prison despite what it would mean for the Jupiter Project. Hiding the blueprints behind his back, he spun around to face the tall, blond woman. Doctor Vivian Porter was a woman, and had no place being in a scientific field such as robotics. Fen had kept her under his thumb since she arrived at the Space Center, using her genius to fuel his own career. Now that he had the forge, it was time to cut away the fat, so to speak.

"That's a serious accusation, Dr. Porter." Fen said slyly. "And it's an attitude I won't tolerate in my apprentices."

"Apprentice?!" Vivian shouted, placing her hands on her hips, causing her lab coat to cling to her curves. "You're a hack, Fen! You used my thesis on artificial intelligences to get this job, then made sure I got hired too so you could keep taking advantage! You should be the apprentice!"

Fen looked away innocently and frowned. "And how are you going to prove that? It's your word against mine, and let's face it... people think you're a super model trying to act in a grown up world." he said, looking her in the eyes with a sinister smile. "Who's going to believe you after you've been fired?"

Vivian pursed her lips, biting her tongue to force herself to keep from making the matter worse. "Don't bother, Fen." she said in a mix of rage and sadness. "I quit."

Fen shrugged and waved her away. "Fine, don't let the door close on you when you leave." Vivian stood stock still for a moment, tempted to grab the little man by his thick neck in her finely manicured hands and squeeze, then slowly turned and strode out the doors to make her way to the Space Center's exit. Once the door had closed behind her, Fen unrolled the blueprints against and set to work.

Down in the dark depths of the Space Center, Fenwick watched with hypnotized amazement at the pivoting glass ball that glowed with an orange light despite it's obsidian appearance. An eerie red light appeared at the sphere's center, as though staring at Fen. "Is the power we require available?" it asked in a deep, smooth, haunting voice.

"Only partially." Fen said nervously. "Any more and it'll be instantly traced."

The orb's voice seemed to rise in irritation. "With the power we require, it would make no difference."

"I need a demonstration!" Fen cried out, far higher pitched and fearful than he had anticipated.

The orb was quiet for a few moments, as though making up its mind. "Very well. We have the blueprint of the item you have requested. We will forge this structure for you..." As Fen rubbed his hands together in terrified excitement, the room grew even darker as the ceiling lights winked out and the red light in the orb retreated back to it's core. Fen cowered as sparks began to erupt from power conduits that were strewn around the room, shorting out computers and snapping various breakers in the power boxes there had been temporarily installed. Without warning, three beams of light shot out from the orb and began tracing a wireframe design of a obviously mechanical, humanoid form. The beams of light continued to stream over the form, filling in the spaces within the frame in a flurry of pixels that quickly became solid metal.

Fen's jaw dropped as the silver, robotic form turned and looked at him. The body wasn't elegant, with a massive central body and spindly joints. It's primary sensor package was a simple dome that sat atop the body, and it's arms ended in large clawed appendages. Even it's legs were pillars of metal with treads that it moved forward on. "Even a genius like Vivian could never have developed this..."

"Vivian..." the voice of the orb whispered.

"Hmm?" Fen asked, still distracted by the hulking robot in front of him. "Oh, don't worry about her. She's been... let go." he said, waving away the notion. "But this... this will further my career by leaps and bounds!" he cried, jumping up and clicking his heels. "It's a little big to move around though..." Without another word, the robot's shell collapsed into it's central spinal column, then it's arms and legs shrunk until only it's treads were visible beneath a shoe box sized body with a sensor dome on top. "Amazing..."

"Now, Fenwick Agle. We have demonstrated our power."

Fen picked up the now more manageable sized robot and tucked it under his arm with a satisfied grin. "Mmm? Oh yes, the Internet. I will definitely start looking into that for you..." he said, hesitating as he moved toward the heavy security door in order to exit the room. "Just as soon as this robot gets me the lead position on the Jupiter Mission." With one final step, Fen was outside of the room and the door slid shut again.

* * *

"So the Jupiter robot was like... an early synthomech?" Kim asked, trying to make sense of the new information she was being given.

Dr. Possible rubbed his chin in thought. "I suppose that would be an accurate comparison. But when we realized how it was constructed, we had decided to reverse engineer it, to discover how to build more without the orb." he said, heaving a sigh. "That was when the Hephaestus Project really began."

"Why not keep using it, though?" Kim asked, confused. It seemed like the easier choice, after all.

"When Fen admitted that the orb was speaking to him, at first we passed it off as ramblings of a mad man." he chuckled, shaking his head at a memory. "But it soon became apparent that the orb was some kind of artificial intelligence, hungry for power. It had a sinister and violent streak, and anything it created was innately designed for combat."

"Like the Diablos." Kim pointed out. Doctor Possible nodded. "So how did Drakken manage to get hold of it?"

"Fortunately, my creator... err... your real father, designed me in order to have a lab partner that thought much the same way he did. We worked in perfect unison." the hologram explained fondly. Kim felt vaguely uncomfortable with the idea of the hologram of her father speaking in an odd third person perspective, but shook it off in an effort to pay attention. "Anyway, the night Drakken abducted the real Doctor Possible and tapped his brain was the next step in nearing the Diablo War..."

* * *

**May, 2005. One month before the Diablo War.**

"My teenage daughter isn't afraid of you. Why should I be... DREW?" James Possible said, emphasizing Drakken's real name with a smug tone in his voice. With the blue skinned villain staring him in the face, and a giant of a man dressed in Ninja garb beside him, he couldn't help but feel a bead of sweat run down his spine.

Drakken winced and growled at his former college friend. "Gah! I hate it when you call me that! I am not the man you knew in college, Possible!"

"Still can't get a date though, I bet." James grinned, feeling suddenly superior to the super villain that was attempting to intimidate him.

Dr. Drakken pushed himself away from James' chair to pace the length of the room. "Rrr... Why is it that every Possible I capture feels the need to give me lip?!" he asked into the air before leaning against the far wall of the office. "Doesn't anyone respect the traditional captive/captor relationship anymore?" he complained, squeezing his eyes shut and rubbing his furrowed brow with a gloved hand. "Has society gone completely to seed?!"

James lifted a finger and smiled, confident he now held the upper hand. "If I could interrupt your rant to point out that I'm not telling you anything about the project!"

Drakken suddenly turned toward his adversary again and grinned. "Oh, I anticipated that! You know what they say; if you want to make an omelet..." he said, his voice suddenly becoming far more sinister as he glared down at James. "You've gotta to break a few eggheads."

James suddenly frowned as the giant Ninja cracked his knuckles above James' head. Dr. Possible held out a hand, suddenly aware that his place in the negotiation had just slipped to second place. "Okay, hold the phone here." he said, turning to his computer terminal. Picking up his stylus, he touched a sequence of images on the screen that would unlock the programs safety features.

"Are you sure you wish to delete file: Hephaestus?" the computer asked in a monotone, female voice.

Drakken pulled at his hair in panic. "Nooooo!"

"Yes." James stated, the smile returning to his face.

"Dr. Possible voice print acknowledged." the computer stated plainly before the screen, and all relevant information winked out.

"You deleted it?!" Drakken shouted. "Are you mad?"

James turned back to Drakken, nestling back into his chair. "No worries! Got it all up here." he grinned, tapping a finger on his forehead.

Realization suddenly struck Drakken as to the implications of what James had just said and he glared at the man critically. "Well good news then, because I have a Brain Tap Machine, and I've been just dying to use it!"

"Doctor Drakken, sir?" called his Chief lab worker.

"What?!" Drakken had put the spineless little man with the receded hairline and round, purple glasses in charge of the Brain Tap Machine when he had first put his newest plan into motion. But when Shego had failed to deliver Nakasumi and his award winning toy designing mind, the man was quickly failing to live up to his potential.

"The Brain Tap Machine is ready."

"Good!" Drakken grinned, rubbing his gloved hands together. He looked up at the sumo ninja that was still standing behind James Possible. "Bring him."

The sumo ninja lifted James out of his seat with one hand and slung him over his shoulder before following Drakken and the lab technician out of the office. Within the parking garage of the Space Center sat several black vans, surrounded by large black and purple synthodrones that stood motionless, guarding the area. The rear of one van opened to reveal a reclining seat that resembled a dentist's chair, with an articulated arm that reached out from the back to hover above the head position with a ring of tiny needles pointing inward. James swallowed hard. "You won't get away with this. My daughter will be carting you off to jail before the night is through!" James shouted, struggling unsuccessfully against the sumo ninja's grip.

Drakken paused for a moment at the entrance of the van. "I'm afraid poor Kimberly Anne's honor roll is about to get a failing grade." he sneered. "Put him in!"

The sumo ninja unceremoniously dropped James into the seat, and steel braces popped up and locked around his wrists and ankles. He struggled against the bands, grunting as he strained; but as Drakken stood above him with an evil laugh on his lips, his world turned to black. "Information is being downloaded, sir!" announced the lab technician.

"Finally! With this cybertronic breakthrough, even Kim Possible won't be able to stop me! Muahahahah!" he laughed, raising his arms to emphasis his triumph.

"Uhm... sir?"

Drakken instantly stopped his chuckles at the lab technician's nervous interruption. "Do not 'uhm... sir' me, unless it's good news!" he rasped, glaring. The technicians was pointing toward a floor plan of the Space Center, with a high lighted section in the depths of the building. "What does that have to do with the Hephaestus Project?" The men around him shrugged. "Rrr... fine." He pointed at the lab technician. "You, take the good Doctor to the lair and string him up as I instructed. The rest of you..." he continued with a grin, stepping out of the van. "Let's see what secrets they've been keeping in the basement."

The descent into the Space Center's basement was littered with security measures that any team trying to infiltrate would be hard pressed to bypass. Unless that said team employed ninjas, super strong synthodrones, and all the procedural codes of one Doctor James Timothy Possible. The Megadrive that stored Dr. Possible's brain waves was securely in Drakken's hands, and as they passed each locked security door, Drakken's grin grew wider. "This is even easier than stealing the Neutronalyzer!" he giggled. The final door they came to had glaringly obvious warning symbols surrounding it, in the form of yellow and black stripes and the words 'DO NOT ENTER' plastered throughout.

"Sheg... rrr." he growled, recalling he had purposely left Shego out of this little endeavor in order to contain his secret plot. Normally, she would have simply melted through the security door with her glowing hands but apparently this was going to take a bit more doing. He snapped his fingers and grinned.

Without saying a word, the sumo ninja stepped forward, using climbing claws in the palms of his hands to slide the metal door to the side. The resulting screech of metal scratching metal resounded through the empty halls of the Space Center until he heard the satisfying 'clunk' of it locking into place. Steam and a rippling heat washed out of the room, which had an eerie orange light emanating from it. Drakken stepped forward, his grin fading to a frown and his eyes widening as the pivoting sphere slowly came into view amidst the fog. "What is this supposed to be?!" he asked. The crowd of henchmen shrugged. "Whatever. If it's this top secret, it must be something good!" he grinned. "Unbolt it and bring it with us to the new lair!"

* * *

"Wait... So if Dad didn't send out the SOS, then..." Kim said suddenly, looking up at the hologram. "You did!"

The hologram nodded. "Maybe if I had reacted sooner, you could have stopped Hephaestus from ever falling into his hands."

Kim shook her head. "No, I still would have gone after Dad. Family first." she smiled. "I guess that's something I forgot when I left Ron behind to go rescue Erik." Kim leaned forward, resting her cheek on a fist. "Ron's always been there for me. Even when I was dating Erik, I called him when I needed to rescue Dad. And then when BN Headquarters blew up, he was the only one I had to lean on..."

* * *

**June, 2005. The Diablo War begins **

"Kim! We have to go! Now!" Ron shouted, but Kim was wrestling away from him. She'd had her minute to cry. To get over the scene before her; of the top of BN Headquarters exploding with her father supposedly inside.

"I can save him!" she shouted, running toward the burning building. A dozen giant Diablo bots surrounded it now, using one flexible arm mounted with fire extinguishers to put out the blaze while the other arm scanned the area to make sure no one came close. As Kim charged toward the building, two Diablos took notice and began firing their arm cannons. Kim back flipped as the ground in front of her exploded in a shower of grass, dirt, and rock. She then leaped forward as the next blast had overcompensated for her motion and threw her forward and into a nest of debris from the first explosion. While she knew the skin tight battle suit was out of power, it still afforded her a tremendous amount of flexibility and freedom that her regular mission clothes never did. Unfortunately, camouflage wasn't also amongst those advantages.

The burning shadow of the building was quickly growing in Kim's narrowing tunnel vision as she continued running, zig zagging in and out of debris as yet another Diablo took notice and began firing a stream of yellow plasma energy. The battlesuit protected her from the majority of the heat as she began a series of handsprings toward the nearest Diablo. The demonic machine switched out it's cannons in favor of a combination of a circular saw and a reciprocating spike. It plunged the spike into the pavement where Kim was standing a moment before, causing asphalt to erupt as the ten foot long jackhammer tore a swath along Kim's path.

Kim rolled to a standing position as the circular saw passed by, the wind from the saw blowing her hair around her face. She cartwheeled to the side to avoid the spike, dancing around the behemoth's feet and she fired her arm grapple, connecting it to the back of the Diablo. As Kim ascended the Diablo, another of the robots that had been targeting her stretched out it's plasma cannon and fired.

Kim's trajectory swung her up onto the first Diablo's armored shoulder as the blast tore a hole through the robot's back. With a loud creaking of twisting metal, the Diablo slowly fell forward with Kim riding it's shoulder until it impacted the ground. With a practiced acrobatic flip, Kim leaped from her perch to land on her feet with a grin as she glared at the next Diablo. "Did you miss me?" she asked smugly. Two more Diablos joined the second that shot a hole through it's companion, and Kim prepared another routine of evasions in her mind, pivoting her foot in the torn up landscaping. "Who's next?"

Kim's smile faded as the shadow of the Diablo behind her began to move. She turned, shock setting in as the robot hefted itself up on it's clawed hands. The torn metal hole in the Diablo's chest began to shine with a brilliant light, the scorched pieces of metal folding over the gaping hole until only a seam was left. Then it too, glowed and disappeared as the Diablo stood up again, undamaged. "Kim possible, you will cease..." the Diablos began to say in unison. But Kim was abruptly swept off of her feet and placed on the back of a rocket propelled scooter by Ron's arm around her waist.

He didn't say anything and Kim didn't fight him. Maybe if she'd had her jet pack, or some gadget to make her invisible, or even just power for her battlesuit, she could have gotten past the Diablos and into the building, but she would also have had to fight her way through the destroyed structure and find her Dad.

Her arms wound tightly around Ron's waist and she looked away from Rufus, who was perched securely on Ron's shoulder and eyeing her sadly, and back at the smoking form of Buenos Nachos Headquarters, tears streaming across her cheeks. The Diablos weren't pursuing, and instead went back to guarding the perimeter and dousing the flames. That place was a graveyard now, and somewhere she never wanted to return to. "Good bye, Dad."

The rockets finally ran out of fuel as Kim and Ron neared Middleton, and several Diablos could be seen moving through the city, their black and red domed heads bobbing up and down as they tromped through buildings, the night sky lighting up with their eye lasers and arm cannons. Hesitantly, Ron looked over his shoulder at Kim. "What's the plan, KP?"

Kim's source of encouragement had always been her father. The one to tell her how impossible things were always possible for a Possible. Now, she wasn't so sure. She still had her ideals though, and the rest of her family, the world, needed her help. She knew it's what her father would have wanted. "We get our families to safety first, Ron. We'll have to come up with a way to get rid of these Diablos later."

Ron nodded, gunning the scooter's throttle as they made their way to their own neighborhood. There were craters pock marking the streets, and buildings that were burning with yellow plasma, spewing noxious smoke into the air. "It's like they're not even trying to keep anything in one piece. They're just destroying everything!"

"I know, Ron. Maybe Drakken was in that explosion too." Kim said, a sense of dark hope welling up inside her. If Shego and Erik had gotten caught in it too, it wouldn't break her heart. "If that's the case, they're just rampaging without a command."

"I don't know, Kim. Those ones at BNH seemed to know what they were doing."

Kim frowned. As much as she hated to admit it, Ron was right. The Diablos, from their weapons, actions, and even appearance were meant to invoke fear. They were squashing resistance before it even had a chance to stand. It was ruthless and destructive, and Kim had to wonder if Drakken's true plan had even shown itself yet. Digging the cell phone out of Ron's pocket again, hitting the redial button. "Pick up, Wade..."

After several rings, Kim was about to cut the connection short when Wade's voice finally came over the speaker. "Kim?!"

"Wade!" Kim replied in a shout of relief. "You're okay!" Wade's voice was shallow and intermittent, interrupted by heavy breathing. "Where are you?"

"Ru-running." came the reply. "Used Wadebot. Distracting Diablos. Now next to... Sp-space center."

"Find a place to hide, Wade. We'll be right there!" Kim folded up the cell phone, dropping it back in Ron's pocket. "Cell service isn't going to last much longer. We need to meet up somewhere." she said, speaking into Ron's ear.

"Hey, there's my Dad's car!" He said, pointing at a green sedan driving toward them with bundles of belongings strapped to the roof. Ron pulled on the scooter's brake and skidded to a stop, allowing Kim to perform a flip over his head to land on her feet.

The car screeched, chugged, and stopped and the doors opened as Anne, Jim, and Tim Possible exited the back seat and wound up in a bundle of relieved hugs with Kim. "Kim, where's your father?" Anne Possible asked, fearing the worst. Kim looked up at her with wet green eyes and an unnatural silence, and Anne knew her fears were real.

"Dad!" Ron cried as his parents stepped out of the front seat of the car. He let the scooter tip onto it's stand as he stumbled off of it, taking his parents in a hug.

"Ronald, are you okay?" his parents asked in unison.

Ron couldn't help but look over at Kim and frown. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm okay, I guess."

"What are we going to do?" his mother asked, looking around at the ruined city. "Those Diablo things are everywhere!"

Kim's features hardened, and she spoke before anyone else could come up with anything. "We're going to the Space Center where Wade is. From there..." she paused, clearly uncertain what they would do from there. "From there, we'll find a way to bring down Drakken's Control Satellite and end this."

While her mother and brother's eyes held an obvious sadness at their sudden loss, their smiles and confidence were evident. Ron's parents were holding onto each other and their son with worry, but Ron broke away to stand next to Kim. "Got your back, KP."

The ride to the Space Center took longer than Kim was used to, as they had to avoid several Diablo bots on their way there. Kim had decided to continue traveling with Ron and scout ahead while their respective families followed in the Stoppable's car. Kim was staring up at the multi tiered facility surrounded by a ten foot gate that was locked electronically, and Ron turned to her, tipping the scooter onto it's stand. "You think Wade got in there?"

"Well, this IS Wade we're talking about." she replied, eyeing the height of the gate. "I'll be right back."

Ron narrowed his eyes at her as the car stopped behind them. "What about us, Kim? What about them?" He pointed at their families as they got out of the car. "I'm not sure if you've noticed, but my Dad's not the gate jumping type." he whispered, shielding his mouth with a hand.

"I'll find Wade and..."

"Kim, you are not leaving us behind again." Ron said stubbornly.

Kim was about to retort, anger filling her eyes when her mother stepped up beside them, holding an identification card with her husband's picture on it. "Your father left his coat at home, and I thought I should bring it..." Kim hesitantly looked from Ron to her mother, then back again, crisply taking the key card and turned away to move toward the gate. "Did you manage to talk to Kim, Ron?"

Ron's eyes suddenly went wide, and he choked on his words as his throat tightened and his breathing weakened. "Talk? Sure. We talked."

"But not about how you feel about her."

"I... Uh..."

The soft chime of the gate unlocking interrupted Ron's mumbling, and Kim turned toward the others. "Okay, let's..." the moment the gate slid open, the Diablos within the city all turned to stare, their yellow eyes flaring. "Move!"

Kim began motioning for everyone to enter the gate as she watched the Diablos wade through the city toward them. "Why did they notice us now?" Ron asked when the others were through the gate.

"I don't know, Ron. We'll find Wade and see what he can figure out." she assured him. As he stepped past, Kim couldn't help but wonder herself. They were acting with a singular purpose now, as though someone or something had instantly given them a command. "Come on. We'll only have a few minutes."

By the time they entered the Space Center, they could already hear the Diablo's footfalls, the vibrations rippling through the immense building and rattling the various decorations meant for the public. "Wade, buddy!" Ron whistled. "Wow..." he continued. "That's kinda cool. ECHO!"

"Ron!" Kim scolded. "There are giant robots bearing down on us! A little focus?"

"Sorry, Kim."

"Try to get Wade on your cell."

Ron dug into his pocket and unfolded his cellphone. "Sorry Kim, service is down."

Their parents nodded their confirmation when they checked their own mobile phones. "He's shutting down the towers." Kim said to herself. "Wade!"

"Right here, Kim." Wade said, coming out from an 'Employees Only' doorway. He was out of breath, leaning against the wall. "Whew, I really need to get out of room more."

"I don't think that's going to be a problem anymore." Kim said, watching the Diablo's shadows begin to loom in the windows. "Okay Mr. Wizard, we need an exit!"

"I've got an idea, but it's a long shot."

"Sold, we'll take it!" Kim shouted, herding everyone toward Wade as the overweight prodigy began climbing the stairs behind the door he had come through. Kim looked back to see a Diablo's clawed arms crash through the front windows. The group quickly followed Wade through several corridors as explosions could be heard rumbling through the Space Center behind them. "What have you got, Wade?" Kim asked as she caught up to the boy at the lead of the group.

"Something else your Dad was working on. Still remember what you learned from Frederick?" Wade asked as they filed in through a heavy sliding door. Standing up in front of them was a large, three engine rocket that tapered down to a cockpit at the other end. "Meet the Kepler."

"You want me to fly a rocket out of here?!"

"Sorry Kim, it's the best I've got." Wade said, obviously apologetic. "The launch sequence is already started. Once the launch tunnel opens up, the Diablos are going to know exactly where we are.

"How did you find this thing?" she asked, moving toward it with hesitation.

Wade frowned a moment, as though not willing to say. "Well, you're Dad told me about it. Sorta." Pulling his portable computer from his pants pocket, he held it up and turned on a small holographic display. Kim stepped back a moment when the tiny image of her father took form an inch above the computer's surface.

"Hey there, Kimmie-Cub." he smiled. The voice and image were perfect, and if he wasn't only three inches tall, Kim would swear it was her father.

"I think your Dad made a copy of himself that he kept as a sort of lab partner here at the Science Center." Wade said, being careful to only show Kim. It would be up to her to let her family in on the development later. "But I really think we should get out of here before we get into it any further." he continued as the clawed arm of a Diablo came crashing through the observation room behind them.

Kim heaved a sigh. "Okay, everyone in!" she ordered as the shaking of the building began tearing beams and rafters loose from their housings. The stair climb was a long one and Kim was trying to bite down on her frustration at the slower members of the group. "Ron, get everyone strapped in. Without space suits, the gravity when we launch is going to be... uncomfortable."

As Kim belted herself into the pilot seat, Ron and Rufus hurriedly guided the others to passenger seats. Wade plopped down into the seat next to Kim and belted in, pulling the remote launch computer closer to his seat. "Ready when you are, Kim."

Kim looked behind her to see Ron's parents and the remnants of her own family sitting safely, with brave faces. "Stop it!" she heard Mrs. Stoppable say to her husband.

"What?" he replied, trying to look innocent.

"You know what. You're calculating our survivability!" she whispered back.

"I'm an Actuary. It's what I do!"

"Everyone's belted in, Kim!" Ron shouted from the back. "Hey, where's our s--" he suddenly asked as Kim pushed the accelerator forward. His high pitched screams were quickly drowned out by the roar of the engines and Kim watched as the bay door began to open.

Kim clenched her teeth. They would launch and get away from here, then break orbit and somehow disable Drakken's Diablo Control Satellite. Then everything would be okay, she thought. But as the bay door continued to slide open like a sleepy eyelid glimpsing the day's first light, the image of millions of Diablos blocking out the moonlight filled her vision. There would be no way for the rocket to get by them, even if they didn't bother attacking.

She tried shouting for everyone to hold on, but her voice never reached them. The Kepler rose, slowly at first as smoke and exhaust filled the launch bay, then the sudden lurch pressed them all into their seats as the dome of the launch bay rushed by, followed by several Diablos. Kim was struggling to keep her eyes open and her hands on the controls as the virtual shield of Diablos flying above them got increasingly closer. After only a minute, the thunder of the engines suddenly quit, only to be replaced by Ron's screams and Rufus' complaints from the rear of the cabin where they had been thrown after not getting belted in. Reluctantly, Kim evened the throttle and began to level the shuttle out before reaching the cloud of robots.

"What happened? Did the engines stop?!" Mrs. Stoppable asked.

"We broke the sound barrier!" Tim shouted with a grin.

"Hoo-sha!" Jim agreed.

"Okay Wade, how do we fix this?" Kim asked, not taking her eyes off of their course.

"I don't know, Kim. Unless we can get past those Diablos..."

"Then it's time we call in some favors. Do you still have satellite communication?"

Wade pulled a Kimmunicator from his pants pocket and waited a moment before answering. "It's weak, but yeah. I imagine all those Diablos are causing interference."

"Get Dr. Director on the line."

* * *

Kim finished her glass of water and sighed. "That was the last time any of us saw Middleton before last week. I guess... I guess I always blamed Ron a little for not using his new Monkey Powers when I was trying to save Dad. But the Diablos would have kept coming, and none of us would have gotten out of there."

"Everyone was scared that night, Kimmie. I'm sure your Father would be very proud of all you've done. I know I am." the hologram of her father said with a smile.

Kim returned the smile. "Still, I wish I had some more answers as to Drakken's master plan. This whole Hephaestus thing puts a new twist on who and what we're fighting. Where did it come from? What is it's plan?" she asked as she stared down at the bottom of her glass. "This isn't how the future was supposed to be, Dad."


	12. Reaping the Whirlwind

**Reaping the Whirlwind**

Drakken's metal feet tromped along the steel walkways within what used to be the corporate headquarters of a fast food chain. The air was sterile, yet had the taste of metal and oil. Synthodrones passed by on either side, granting him space to move through the halls as he strode, absent minded. Shego was in Hephaestus' chambers, under repairs. While Drakken knew that Erik had been created as a completely loyal servant and Warlord, he was beginning to question Shego's purpose here.

"Ah, Lord Drakken." came a heavily accented, electronic voice. "Vhy ze face of conzusion? Perhaps you vequire assistance?"

Drakken stopped and rolled his eyes. "No, Dementor..." he began, then paused. "Actually, yes..." Drakken turned to glare down at the diminutive synthetic, the red line of light that shined from his mechanical eye running along Dementor's frame. "What is your purpose here?"

Dementor seemed to smile, despite his lack of mobile facial features. "I am vere to be zerving, Lord Drakken."

Tilting his head slightly, Drakken approached Dementor, staring down his metal nose at him. "Yes, but why you? Why did Hephaestus bring you out as a servant, Dementor?"

Dementor shrugged innocently. "Who am I to question ze visdom ov Hevestus?"

Drakken frowned at him. "Indeed."

"I zought zince you zeemed so unjoyful, you could use Hevestus' ajurance. "

Drakken glared. "There is no reason to bother Hephaestus with my... thoughts. I am simply considering my next move in ridding this planet of Kim Possible's presence."

"Okay, okay." Dementor replied, holding up his hands defensively. "I had zhought zat you may be in ze interest of Zego's... diviculties."

"Zego?"

"Yez, Zego..." Drakken looked at Dementor in confusion, but remained silent. "ZEGO! ZEGO!" Dementor shouted, unable to pronounce the name correctly.

"Perhaps you should go see Hephaestus yourself, Dementor. Get that vocalizer fixed." Drakken grinned, turning away. The dwarf sized robot was right, however. Hephaestus did have some answers he seeked. The vast difference in the two synthomechs troubled him. Erik had never disobeyed orders, not even questioned them. But Shego had continually and openly defied him, much as she had before in her career as a henchwoman, developing her own pride and agenda to destroy Kim Possible, even to the point of interfering with others that had the same goal.

The ultimate plan of replacing the entire human species with mechanoid immortals that lived and served him unquestioningly was becoming shrouded. Hephaestus could bring back anyone it stored through the use of his digitization ray in various forms, but if they could not be controlled, then what was the point?

As Drakken reached his throne room, he entered and sat. His chair granted him a cybernetic link to his army of synthodrones, and all of his tools of destruction, including Hephaestus. He sat back, commanding the cyber link to take him as steel clamps closed around his wrists and waist to keep him from moving during the process. To any outside observers, it would appear that he had fallen asleep in his chair, but his mind raced through cables of data and power that lead him to Hephaestus. "Give me your memories." he murmured, grinding his metal teeth together.

While Hephaestus was busy repairing Shego, It's attention was diverted, constantly regulating power while weaving broken code and disrupted DNA together, and Drakken was able to enter the vast stores of data unnoticed. Searching through Hephaestus was something he'd had to do often, but there was always the lingering suspicion that the artificial intelligence was hiding something, like a file clerk that was hiding something behind their back. He sifted through images that he already knew well, from Hephaestus' activation in the depths of the Space Center, to the betraying little roboticist, Fenwick Agle. The images continued to fly by until his own, completely human, if blue tinged, face first appeared.

**

* * *

May 2005, One month before the Diablo War**

Drakken stood staring at the black, glassy orb that sat dormant in front of him. For all he could tell, it was no more than a two meter diameter paper weight that was now taking up space in his new lair. "Anything?"

"Sorry, Dr. Drakken." said one of his red coverall clad henchmen. There were six of them searching the ball for any ports, or controls, or... anything!

"Rrrr... You clods! Search Possible's brain map. This over glorified disco ball MUST have something to do with the Hephaestus Project!"

"Sir! Kim Possible just entered the arctic lair!" called another henchman. "Shall I spring the trap?"

"In a moment." he grinned, stepping onto the transmission pad he'd had installed in his new lair. "I have a message for our dear Kimberly Anne first." he laughed.

The environment around him faded to blackness, to be replaced by the lower levels of the arctic lair. To one end of the room, hung James Possible above a vat of saline water and a mass of thick, orange and red tentacles. On the other end, his Annihilation Ray sat warmed and waiting for a target. Suddenly, a portal in the ceiling opened, dropping Kim Possible and her bumbling, screaming sidekick into the room and swinging to a perceived place of safety on the floor. "Kim Possible, and her sidekick... whose name escapes me." he announced.

"Okay, after all the times we've battled him, how can he not remember my name?" the blond boy complained. Reflexively, Kim leapt at Drakken, passing through his holographic form and his point of view adjusted to face her.

"Ms. Possible." Drakken goaded with an arrogant smile. "You would do well to save your energy. Your father is in quite a pickle!" he said, gesturing to James, who continued to struggle above the tank of tentacles.

"Dad!" Kim shouted, racing toward him. As she moved toward the tank, the Annihilation Ray automatically activated, firing a green beam of energy across the room at Kim's feet, stopping her from advancing.

"I must warn you." Drakken continued. "My latest Death Ray is killer!"

"Isn't that redundant?" The sidekick pointed out, but Drakken ignored him, instead watching with satisfaction as his trap played out. A panel in the floor behind the blond buffoon fell away, allowing a purple and black synthodrone to rise out of the floor in a yellow light. "KP?" the boy asked nervously.

Drakken continued to watch as Kim flew by him, landing a solid kick in the synthodrone's chest and knocking it down, resulting in a dozen synthodrones rising out of other panels in the floor and surrounding them. "I wish I could be there." he said in all honesty. "But I'm busy settling into my new lair. The lair from which I shall take over the world!" he laughed. "Farewell, Kim Possible! Farewell..." He hesitated a moment, then turned to the henchmen in the room with him. "What's his name again? Whatever, you know who you are!" he finished as the communication line was cut. "Who is that boy that's always with Possible, anyway? I thought she was supposed to be dating Erik?!" Drakken growled, stepping off the transmission pad. "Hoskins, make a note for Erik to advance his relationship with Kim Possible!"

The tall, lanky scientist had been ready with pen and paper to start taking notes the moment Drakken had said his name, but paused by the end of the sentence. "Uh... How, exactly?"

"I don't know! Have him take her dancing or something foolish like that!" Drakken shouted at the man, who visibly relaxed. "Now, we have to set to work building my little cybertronic pets to begin stocking our franchise. How long before we can saturate the market?" he asked another lab coat wearing advisor.

"Adapting the cybertronic technology to the form of your choosing, and then mass producing it should take about... four to five years."

Drakken felt like he was about to have an aneurism. "Five years?!" he yelled, grabbing at his thinning black hair. He strode up to the advisor that had given the report, grinding his teeth. "Do you mean to tell me that pumping out little kiddie toys in a fast food franchise will take a half decade of my life?! That I have to somehow keep this entire plot a secret from my arch foe for another five years!" he rasped, his voice finally cracking on the last few words.

"Drakken..."

"What?!" Drakken asked, spinning around to try to find the deep, haunting voice he'd heard. But the varied array of technicians around him were only cowering or confused, as he was used to.

"I require energy..."

"Who said that?!" he shouted, narrowing his eyes at the cretins that surrounded him. But movement in the corner of his vision caused him to pause as clouds of orange fog had begun to mysteriously swirl around the black globe. "Who turned that thing on?!"

"We can assist you, but we require energy..."

"Who's 'we'?" Drakken growled, glaring at the orb.

"Give us energy, and your plans will come to fruition..."

Drakken let out a short grunt and shrugged. "When have I worried about consequences before?" he mumbled to himself. Still, the voice he heard, however imagined it may be since the rest of the people in the room seemed oblivious to it, had a sinister tone that Drakken liked. "Fine! Hook it up!" The various lab technicians and henchmen looked at each other, still obviously confused. "There must be some way to hook it up to power!"

"Well, we did discover several ports on the bracing legs for power cables, but we don't know..." one of the technicians said, and Drakken glared at him with dark, irritated eyes. The man smiled nervously back. "We'll get right on that, Dr. Drakken."

The crew of technicians and henchmen scurried about, stringing cables around his new laboratory and connecting them to the four legs that were bolted to the floor, holding up the glassy sphere. Without a word, Drakken heaved up on the master switch that fed power to the cables, and they began to glow slightly. Soon, a red light began to brighten in the center of the black orb, light an eye opening after a restless sleep, and the sphere began to pivot rhythmically on the four legs, the constant motion nearly causing Drakken's stomach to turn. "We are at your service." the globe said, causing everyone in the room to gasp.

"Finally!" Drakken exclaimed, stepping forward. "Now, what can you do?"

"You require mass production of technology based upon our design. This is our purpose." the sphere explained. "We are the Forge. We are Hephaestus."

"Hephaestus? You're the cybertronic project that Possible was working on?"

"Dr. Possible was attempting to mimic my technology in order to create his own self replicating hardware. It is inferior."

Drakken was grinning from ear to ear and rubbing his gloved hands together in growing excitement. He pulled a cartoon doodle of Mr. Nakasumi's toy design from his blue lab coat, holding it out to the orb. "Can you replicate this?!"

There was a long pause, and Drakken's grin began to slowly fade. Had he just been imagining it all these last few minutes? "Your thoughts are scattered. Unfocused. We cannot see."

Drakken squeezed his eyes shut and growled, pacing back and forth in thought. Suddenly, an excited whistle escaped his lips and he ran toward one of his latest inventions that he had used to composite Erik's appearance over a synthodrone body. "Hephaestus, can you store information and replicate it?"

"We can."

Setting the crinkled piece of paper in front of his digitization ray, Drakken adjusted the controls on the device. A blue light shot out from the lens, encompassing the doodle and pulling the sheet apart into digital form to be stored within his computer. "The image is available in a digital format!" he grinned. "Can you access it?!"

"We can."

"I need your technology to turn it into a fearsome weapon of terror, to be transformed upon my command!" Drakken shouted, laughing maniacally and raising his hands in the air.

"It will be done." the orb said in it's deep, haunting voice. As Drakken continued his heavy laughter, the lights began to flicker in the room, and a loud hum reverberated throughout the lair as power was being drawn from everywhere. The orange fog that hovered on the surface of the sphere began to expand, what seemed like lightning began to flash.

"Eh?" Drakken asked, suddenly ceasing his laughter. The sound of tiny marching feet echoed in the room, and the henchmen and technicians were now clambering up off of the floor and onto the desks and equipment. As tiny shadowy forms pushed through the fog along the floor, drakken grinned. It was happening. He was going to win. "You!" he ordered, pointing a finger at a group of henchmen that were trying to stay away from the black, red, and yellow toys that were lining up like dutiful, toy soldiers. "Start packaging these for kid's meals!" he said, turning back to Hephaestus. "Create for me an unbeatable army of Diablos, and you'll have as much energy as you can manage! As for me, it seems we have a new development that I must speak to the board of Buenos Nachos about!" he laughed, leaving the orb to replicate more mini robots and his henchmen to collect them.

Drakken ascended the steps to the upper levels of his new lair, the endless possibilities of Hephaestus bringing such a whimsical smile to his face that he nearly didn't notice Shego sitting in front of his giant projection screen, apparently snooping through his files. "A toy design... top secret cybertronic technology... synthodrones personality and performance upgrades, and teen scene junk?" Shego asked aloud, confusion evident in her voice. "What's he gonna do, throw the weirdest pajama party?"

By this time, Drakken had quietly strolled up behind the chair that Shego was occupying and snickered. "You really haven't figured it out yet, have you?" he asked an unmatched layer of smugness coating his words.

Shego stood suddenly at his harassment and she turned away from the screen to face him. "There is no plan here. No way!"

"Oh, but there is!" he replied in a sing-song voice.

Shego surged forward, clasping her hands around his shoulders and leaning into his face in anger. "Spill!"

"No." he replied plainly. He was feeling elated with this new development. It was killing him, but if he could hold back the gloating for one more month with the assistance of Hephaestus, he just might be able to spread his insidious weapons of mass destruction and terror to all the little brats of the world.

"Why not?!" Shego shouted, pushing Drakken away and igniting her hands in green fire.

Drakken shielded his face with his arms out of reflex, then slowly lowered them when it became apparent that she wasn't going to immediately attack. "Kim Possible is not smarter than you..." he said with a shrug.

Immediately, Shego's demeanor relaxed and she nodded, grinning. "True."

"If you can't figure it out..." he said, pausing. "She can't figure it out. And that means..." he trailed off, waiting fir Shego to catch on.

She seemed confused at first, looking down at the floor and frowning. "You might just win..."

Drakken puffed up his chest, clasping his hands behind his back. "Oh, I'm quite confident." he grinned, now leaning into Shego's face before standing tall again and walking away. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm due at a Board of Director's meeting."

"You?" Shego asked in disbelief. "At what company?"

"Oh, just one I recently acquired in a hostile takeover."

* * *

"Father?"

Lord Drakken stirred at the sound of Erik's voice, and the disturbance was enough to break his concentration at going unnoticed within Hephaestus' storage files. He wasn't sure exactly when Erik began thinking of him as a father, especially now that his disguise as a normal teenager was no longer in place since Hephaestus had given him a synthomech body. It seemed a useless gesture now, but perhaps it was a piece of programming left over from his reestablishment. Now if only Shego could show the same level of respect. Drakken roused his head to look at the shiny blue and black form that stood at attention in his throne room. "Yes, Erik?" he asked in a more irritated tone than he intended.

"Is there any word on where Possible or the other resistance groups are?" Erik asked.

Drakken looked at him intently. "Tell me, Erik. Why do you want to see Kim Possible destroyed so badly?"

Erik tilted his head to the side slightly. "Because she defies your will, and keeps interfering with your goals. Because you programmed me to." he said plainly. "Why the questions, Father?"

"Let's take a walk." Drakken said, standing from his throne. Erik, who stood a full foot taller than Drakken himself, took up a position next to him as they made their way up to the observatory balcony that had once been the central control room for his Diablo army. In the explosion, most of the top levels of the giant taco looking building had been blown away, and while the rest of the building was being rebuilt into an impressive fortress of steel and energy, Drakken had decided to keep this area empty. It overlooked the sprawling industrial park that now had nuclear dynamos and fusion capacitors, where once there was a well populated city. In the distance, the glow of Middleton was barely visible, and Drakken sneered. Once Shego had been extracted, Drakken had ordered the city leveled. There were no longer any buildings at all, but still Kim Possible survived to taunt him. He had left it in ruins in order to break her spirit; to set an example, but all it had done was offer her a place to hide. "I am concerned about Shego, Erik. She does not share your loyalty or willingness to further my goals."

Erik seemed to give a very human sounding snort. "I've noticed."

"I wonder why Hephaestus would provide me with a Warlord that can't follow direction." he said cautiously, making sure to make no implications that he was suspicious of the artificial intelligence.

"Another of the side effects of Possible interfering with her creation? Or it could be from the form of energy that she was created with." Erik added thoughtfully. "What I was created with was far more pure."

Drakken smiled for a moment, half of his mouth turning up while the other stayed stone still in it's metallic form. "How is your 'Mother'?"

"I was about to go visit her now."

"Perhaps I'll join you shortly. She may have answers that I'm seeking." Drakken added, leaning lightly on the balcony railing.

Erik looked back at Lord Drakken a moment, concern creeping in uninvited. This balcony represented his death and rebirth, and the creation of his Synthetic Empire. Yet there was something bothering him about Shego's behavior. Despite being a Synthomech, she was acting tremendously human in her pride, and it was deterring his Father's goals. Their exchange in the Nevada Desert a few weeks ago was a sure sign that she felt her own agenda superceded Drakken's and Erik shook his head. Perhaps it had to do with how she'd been digitized in the first place.

**

* * *

June, 2005 - The Diablo War Begins**

Erik's vision was fuzzy. Dull grey, and yet bright orange. Suddenly, he realized where he was and searched the immediate, burning surroundings for Dr. Drakken. A moment before the self destruct had detonated the top floors of the building, he had shielded his creator's body with his own, yet had been separated from his ward in the explosion. He could feel large blisters forming on the husk that passed for skin, and several areas threatened to burst open as the synthetic gelatinous organic polymer that held his programming and central processing matrix heated up in the growing blaze.

A groan caught his attention, and Erik turned to see Shego struggling to her feet. Like him, she had been caught in the same mind numbing shockwave that Dr. Possible had set off when he entered the room. Ironically, it was being unconscious that probably saved her life. "I'm going to get rid of that little manx if it's the last thing I do." she coughed out. "Dr. D?"

Erik could see that she was cradling one arm, and blood was running down her torn black and green leather jumpsuit she was wearing. "Shego, over here!" he called through the smoke. The control room was continuing to heat up, and it wouldn't be long before his black and purple synthodrone husk ruptured.

"Where's Drakk--" Shego began to ask, then paused as she caught a glimpse of Erik. "Wow, kid. You look how I feel." she said with a grimace. "We'd better find the Doc before this whole place comes down."

Erik gently touched the blister on his cheek that stuck out nearly three inches before searching through the smoke again for Dr. Drakken. He waded through several bodies of henchmen that were strewn around the room until he came upon a familiar blue skinned hand. "Shego!" he called, his vocalizer failing slightly. "Over here!"

As he tried lifting one of the beams that had dropped from the ceiling during the explosion, Erik could feel the blisters over his body threaten to break open with the strain until suddenly a jolt lightened the load. He opened one eye, the other now melted shut, to see Shego cutting through the three foot thick steel beam with her green glow, melting a thin, clean line through the center until it bent in half. "He's hurt bad. I don't know if he's gonna make it."

Erik peered down at the unconscious form of Dr. Drakken. The right side of his face was a deep purple, melted from where the beam had been resting. The arm of the same side was twisted and crushed, his new white jacket melted to his skin, resulting in a light blue mash of plastic and flesh. Shego covered her mouth with her favored arm as she tried to inhale past the smoke, tugging on Drakken's shoulders. "He's not budging. I think his legs are still pinned." She looked down and saw the mess of torn metal that had wrapped itself around the Doctor's legs.

"We have to get him out of here." Erik said when he noticed Shego eyeing the hole in the wall. "We don't leave without him!"

Shego glared at him. "We're not leaving your Daddy behind, don't worry." She looked down at Drakken's legs and grimaced. "Ever see Star Wars?" she asked, and Erik turned away as Shego used a green beam to sever Dr. Drakken's legs at the thighs, cauterizing the wounds with plasma burns. "It'll do. Grab an arm."

Erik hefted what was left of Drakken's body, pulling the man's good arm around his neck and cradling his body. Foam was beginning to pour in from the hole in the wall, covering the burning room in extinguisher fluid from several Diablos outside. "Come on, Father." he whispered, eyeing the locked door that had been blown away in the explosion. Suddenly Shego paused, as though confused. "What?"

"You hear that?" she asked. "We don't have time to collect your toys, Dr. D."

Erik looked down at Drakken, seeing that he was still unconscious. "Shego..."

Shego growled and rolled her eyes. "Get him out of here. I'll get his digit-what-sis that he can't seem to live without." Erik was about to protest, but Shego was already gone, hidden in smoke and foam. He repositioned Drakken into a less awkward position, and climbed out of the exit of the room. The windows in the grand foyer were blown out from Kim and Shego's battle earlier, and fire was licking the walls, burning up the history of Buenos Nachos that had been hanging on the walls. The escalators had stopped, and the exit to the building was blocked off by burning debris. Erik looked around, and saw a familiar looking grappling hooked that was latched onto a balcony off the foyer. He grinned, rushing toward it and finding a red hair dryer that hung just below the edge.

There were a half dozen Diablos that were moving around the perimeter of the building, apparently distracted as another Diablo picked itself off of the ground, a smoldering hole in it's chest regenerating. Erik watched as a bright flare and the sound of rockets blazed, and Ron Stoppable rode through the crowd of giant cybertronic robots, swinging Kim Possible onto the back seat of his scooter.

He clenched his jaw in frustration as he watched the two teens escape, his teeth having softened with the heat from the burning building. If Shego was here to look after Drakken, he would chase Kim down for what her father had done but he couldn't leave Drakken in his current state. Instead, he slung Drakken under one arm and grabbed the hair dryer, descending down the side of the smoldering building.

As the pair reached a safe distance away from the structure, Erik set Drakken's still unconscious form down, resting on his haunches. "We will rebuild you, Father. Your Empire will be realized..." he said, feeling the rain patter on his blistered skin.

"Yes." said a symphony of voices from all around him. Erik looked up to see three silver, feminine figures with wet blond hair standing around him. "We will rebuild him, and finally he will be perfect."

* * *

"Come to taunt me with more of your senseless blather?"

Erik discovered he had found his way to the detention level while lost in his thoughts, and was now looking into the angry eyes of Electronique, the closest thing he had to a mother. "Any progress?" he asked, crossing his arms. A glass monitor that she had thrown shattered on his chest and he continued staring at the angry woman. While her skin was still grey, and her hair resembled cable-like dread locks, the black latex suit that had at one time kept her electrical abilities under control was no more, as were the goggles that she had once worn over her silver, pupil-less eyes. She was now in white scrubs, with no sparks that had at one time served as a warning to her enemies.

"No! There is no progress! You took my powers from me, why would I tell you if I had made any progress?!" she shouted, her French accent thick in her speech. "So your master can create more monsters like you? I think not!"

"I already have without you." Drakken said as he entered the room. "You may remember Shego?" he asked with an arrogant smile. "I believe she had helped put you in the non conductive prison where we found you."

Electronique glared at him, clenching and unclenching her fists. "Which was no worse than this prison you have me in now without my powers!" She was pacing now in the large, luxurious suite that did not look as though it belonged in the detention level of the most powerful fortress left on Earth. She had everything she could want here, including a slurpee machine built into the wall, and yet she continued to refuse to cooperate. "I made a deal to help you in exchange for the destruction of my enemies, Team Go. I think you've overstepped your bounds!"

"You forget that I now rule the world. I have no boundaries." Drakken laughed. "Besides, I had this Team Go destroyed already." he said, flourishing his gloved hand. "If you have something else you want done..."

"Not all of Team Go is destroyed, is it?" Electronique stated, continuing to glare at Drakken out of the corner of her silver eyes.

Drakken thought for a moment before what Electronique was implying settled in. "You expect me to destroy such a valuable resource as Shego just to satisfy your need for revenge?!"

"Just a resource, Lord Drakken?" she smiled knowingly. "Please, I'm French. I know when a man is..."

"Enough chit chat!" Drakken growled. "Can you replenish your energy source in order to give me more synthomechs or not?!"

"I may be able to. But why should I?" Electronique asked. "You would just strip them away again and again. You should have just left me in that plastic prison."

**

* * *

February, 2006 - One Year into the Diablo War**

Drakken flexed his new mechanical hand, staring at it quietly. The BeBes had replaced the majority of his body with their own technology that he himself had originally designed, and Drakken couldn't help but chuckle lightly at the irony. As the fires in BN Headquarters had died out, Hephaestus had drained the surrounding city of all of it's energy in order to create a fortress in which it and Drakken would remain safe. Diablos were continuing to rage across the surface of the planet, walking through all resistance that the world's governments had to offer.

He had done it. He had taken over the world, and all it had cost him was two thirds of his body, and the only people he could have considered friends. Shego had been lost in the destruction of the Buenos Nachos building, as had many of his hired henchmen. Even Erik, his greatest robotic achievement aside from the BeBes, stood next to him in a slowly failing synthodrone husk, with horribly melted facial features and hastily patched up cracks and blisters in his skin.

"Drakken."

The deep, whispering and sinister voice of Hephaestus caused Drakken to jump slightly in his chair as it seemed to come from everywhere at once in the hollow room where he sat. The orb had created for itself a home of sorts, in a specially created room not far from where Drakken sat, permanently entwining itself within the fortress' power and information systems. "What?!" he shouted with far more volume and irritation than he had intended. The notion that the evil artificial intelligence was constantly in his mind, thanks to the Bebe's wireless processor that was now taking up half of his brain, was both frightening and exciting. It was like what the Attitudinator should have felt like, rather than the awful 'good' feeling that had come across him from that terrible incident a year ago.

"Relevent information has been acquired that states that Global Justice has a plan to destroy the Diablo forces. This plan may succeed if we do not act swiftly."

"Succeed?! How?!" Drakken shouted in a panic. He was so close. Closer than he had ever been to ruling and had sacrificed everything to get here. To lose it all now...

"Global Justice has launch codes for the world's supply of weapons of mass destruction. With these, they intend on destroying your Diablo army." Hephaestus vaguely explained. A holographic screen appeared in the center of Drakken's throne room, showing a trio of characters breaking into a Global Justice base. The lead red haired female character wore a familiar white and blue jumpsuit, while the blonde boy beside her wore a GJ uniform, as did the shorter and heavier set African American boy that was hacking into the computer system.

Drakken nearly scraped out his remaining eye with his mechanical hand in an attempt to rub his eyes in frustration. "Not again!" he said in a state of reserved exhaustion. Suddenly, he opened his eyes in realization. "Why would Kim Possible fetch launch codes for nuclear weapons to use on the planet?" he asked himself in confusion.

Erik shook his head. "She wouldn't. Even if civilization became unrecoverable, she would never do anything to add to it's destruction."

Drakken grinned at him. "As someone who was designed to know what Ms. Possible would want, I'll trust your judgement."

"Thank you, Father." he replied, doing his best to smile.

For a moment, Drakken raised his remaining eyebrow at Erik's term of endearment, but only shook his head. He glared at the image of Kim Possible, whispering to himself, "Then what are you up to?"

"Suborbital projectiles have nearly unlimited range around the globe, reaching all viable Diablos. The resulting detonations would reduce all organic life to nothing, leaving only synthetic organisms. It would be contrary to their goals, as well as a waste of knowledge and material."

"Ah yes. Your 'hunger'." Drakken said in mild disgust. By assimilating his Digitization Ray into It's cybertronic makeup, Hephaestus was able to break down living people, litterally imploding their cells in much the same way Drakken had with simple cut out magazine pictures of teen models in order to create Erik's disguise, but instead storing all of their memories and DNA within it's unlimited data network. "Suffice to say that they have other plans for the weapons. Either way, our priority is finding where they will attempt to use these codes."

"Individual located."

"What?" Drakken asked in disbelief.

"The individual known as Ronald Tobias Stoppable has a wireless tracking device on his person that we were able to locate." Hephaestus said. "It is unlikely..."

"Stoppable? Who's he?" Drakken interupted.

Hephaestus paused, as though uncertain as to how to respond. "Ronald Tobias Stoppable is the sidekick of Kimberly Anne Possible, son of..."

"Fine, whatever! I don't need a whole 'begotten whom' genealogy rundown." Drakken shouted in irritation. "You could have just said 'The Buffoon' and I would have known who you were talking about. Now why does he have a tracking bug?"

"Reasoning unknown and irrelevant. He will lead us to..."

"Whoa!" Drakken suddenly shouted, cutting off the artificial intelligence. "Who has the Lord title here?" when Hephaestus didn't respond, Drakken rubbed his chin. "Since the buffoon is Possible's constant companion, it's likely that he will lead us to her, and probably Global Justice too."

"His location is one thousand, eighteen meters below the center of what used to be called Oslo, Norway."

Erik chuckled to himself. "Loser must be freezing his..."

"The Diablos will be unable to penetrate the Global Justice base before the weapons are launched." Hephaestus said. "They will be recognized and vulnerable in their toy form."

Drakken looked over at Erik and a frown crossed his face. While his synthodrone body was cracked and blistered beyond Drakken's means of repair, his loyalty and intimate knowledge of Kim Possible was priceless. "Hephaestus, can you create a new body for Erik? One that will last longer than the Diablos, allow him to exert my will where my Diablos can't, and yet still remind our dear Kimberly Anne of the mistake she made?"

"If the power we request is available, we can create a Warlord that will be unbeatable."

Drakken fell silent in thought. There was one being that could provide him with the energy Hephaestus required. Someone he had bumped into at a Villain's Convention several years ago, and had gotten third degree electrical burns because of it. "Send several Diablo to Go City and retrieve a woman named Electronique. She will undoubtedly resist, but they will find her in Go Mental Institution."

**

* * *

March, 2006 - One Year into the Diablo War**

"She destroyed three Diablos before finally falling unconscious." Erik said, looking at the beaten female form that was chained with massive gold cables in what was being called Hephaestus' Containment Room.

"How long did it take for them to regenerate?" Drakken asked. He was working fervently to connect the cables that held Electronique to the conduit that would feed her energy into Hephaestus.

Erik paused for a moment. "They didn't. They were vaporized."

Drakken frowned as Electronique began to groan and shift. "Well then, let's hope GJ doesn't discover how to use megavoltage as a weapon." Using his mechanical arm to complete the circuit between the gold cables and the connection to Hephaestus, Drakken flinched as a shower of sparks erupted.

Instantly, Electronique snapped awake and pulled on the cables that held her in place. As her face took on a mask of hatred, she locked her covered eyes on the two individuals in the room. "Qui sont vou?! Je vous detruirai pour me prendre le captif, le cochon!" she spit, conjuring arcs of electricity through the cables on her legs and arms. The bolts of lightning stopped at the gold cables that were clamped around her limbs though, running down into the connections in the floor.

Drakken looked at her in confusion. "Okay, I have no idea what you just said."

"Who are you?!"

"Ah!" Drakken exclaimed with a grin. "I am Lord Drakken, and you are going to help me."

Electronique let out a smug snort. "Why should I help you?"

"Because I just broke you out of your non conductive prison, that's why!" Drakken shouted back.

"You expect me to believe that YOU control the machines that are rampaging around aimlessly, destroying everything?"

"Of course I am!"

Electronique turned away with a smirk. "Je doute hautement que quelqu'un aussi pitovable que vous pourriez reprendre du monde."

"What was that?" Drakken asked in irritation.

"Nothing!" she replied with a smirk.

Drakken pulled at his remaining hair and growled. "Rrrr! Why am I negotiating?! Just take her power! Take it until I have a new army!"

A bright red light in the heart of the black glassy orb that pivoted in the center of the room gathered as close to Electronique as it could while being locked inside the sphere, as though staring at her. A hint of fear crept into the pit of Electronique's stomach as a buzz began to course through her body, like the pins and needles sensation when a limb loses circulation. "What are you doing to me?!" she shouted, but realized her voice was being drowned out by the sound of super capacitors charging. She could feel her power charging to dangerous levels before finally releasing.

At first, her body began to shake in throes of ecstasy as she gasped, feeling tremendous bolts of pure lightning being drawn from the pit of her being and out of her extremities, through the gold cables. Through her goggles, she could tell that she was lighting up the room as both Drakken and Erik hid their eyes. Her body pulsed and tremored with each pull on her energy that Hephaestus made until even the cables couldn't hold it.

Her bonds melted to slag and she fell to the floor on her hands and knees, the energy in her body expelling in a gush as tongues of electricity ran from her finger tips all along the floor of the metal room and converged on Hephaestus. The orb was glowing as brightly as Electronique was now, and it's inner light shifted it's attention to Erik. What began as a glowing blue wireframe around him started to fill with a blinding light that filled in the spaces. The shape that was forming around the synthodrone was nearly two feet taller than Erik's cracked and broken synthetic body, as well as heavier and more solid.

Electronique let out a final cry of agony as the last wisps of energy left her hands and she collapsed in a smoking, twitching heap on the floor. The light in the room was gone now except for Hephaestus' glow, and where Erik had been standing a few moments before knelt a virtual humanoid tank with shiny black and blue armor and an obviously mechanical copy of the synthodrone's face. Slowly, his eyes opened with a pupil-less blue glow and he stood.

Drakken's mouth hung open in amazement. Forget the Centurion Project and the BeBes... Erik seemed to be both put together. "Magnificent!"

Erik grinned, looking over his new body. Energy weapons crackled in the palms of his hands and his back opened up, allowing a rocket pack protrude. He looked over at Drakken with an excited smile. "Orders, Father?"

Drakken narrowed his eyes and grinned evilly. "Destroy Kim Possible, and all of her allies."

He nodded and turned, his movements smoother than any human could attain. As he left the room, Drakken whispered to himself in amazement. "A Synthomech. A living, indestructible machine with complete autonomous function. Nothing can stop me now!" he laughed.

* * *

"Yes, you do remember don't you, Drakken?" Electronique asked. "And yet you still can't comprehend what you did to me. My body was like a battery. So long as it retained power, it could be recharged. But you killed my power creating this... thing." she explained, gesturing to Erik. "It cannot be recharged."

Drakken glowered at her. "Then I guess you're of no further use to me. And since you know how to utterly destroy both my Diablos and Synthomechs, I also can't allow you to leave." He turned on his heel and opened the door to Electronique's chamber to find six synthodrones waiting behind it with energy rifles. "Take her to Hephaestus." he ordered without looking back.

"Do you really think her power is as dead as she claims, Father?" Erik asked once down the hall. Unlike most individuals that would be kicking and screaming in horror at the notion of being dragged to Hephaestus for digitization, Electronique was going quietly and civilized, as though resigned to her fate. He frowned slightly as the synthodrones escorted her past.

"If for some reason I suspect otherwise, we will just have to draw her out again." Drakken replied with an amused smile. "For the moment however, I'm attempting to do some research on Kim Possible and her team. I need to understand her."

Erik shrugged. "That research paid off last time."

"It did, didn't it?" Drakken grinned. "But now I need to know what she has gone through after the death of her father. Something tells me that boys and dating are the furthest things from her mind."

"How can I help, sir?"

"Transfer your memories of the destruction of Global Justice to me."

"Absolutely. I will upload to Heph-"

"Directly." Drakken stated. He had the sinking feeling that Hephaestus was censoring certain facts from him, and wanted information that was far more raw.

Erik paused a moment, but didn't hesitate. "Done."

Drakken could feel his memories sifting about in his mind, like an itch crawling over his brain that he couldn't scratch until a moment later when the information had fallen into place. "Thank you." he smiled.

* * *

**March, 2006 - One Year into the Diablo War**

Erik was rocketing toward Oslo at supersonic speeds. He had left BN Headquarters only a few minutes before, and had finally gotten to see the damage that the Diablos had caused over the last year. Middleton was now a smoldering ruin of burning plasma, and even the High School he had gone to for a semester was nothing more than a well carved out crater in the Earth.

New York quickly approached, it's varied city scape smoking and crumbling with humans being chased and random buildings being destroyed by rampaging Diablos. The urban center passed quickly however, and soon the ocean was below him, filled with half sunken tanker ships and burning transports that brought a quick stop to civilization's trade and intercontinental transport. Flying low over the surface of the water, he corkscrewed and caused a part between a set of waves that reached up around him in his wake all the way to the shores of Norway.

The Diablos had already descended on Oslo, and tromping around the city aimlessly. Even with all of their cybertronic tools at their disposal, they had no way to penetrate a kilometer of rock in the time it would take for GJ to launch their missiles. He landed hard, creating a small crater as he did, and he scanned the city scape around the Parliament building. He could feel the lookouts staring at him from their hiding places throughout the ruins, and he stepped heavily towards the entrance. "Come on out, Kim! I know you're here!" he shouted, an arrogant smile forming on his metallic face. "I'm going to tear this place apart until I find you!"

"Don't bother." Kim said, emerging from a darkened entrance from behind him, wearing a Global Justice uniform with Captain's stripes on her shoulder. "I see you've gotten a bit of an upgrade."

Upon recognizing Kim's voice, the number of Diablos stopped and turned, aiming their plasma cannons in her direction but Erik lifted a hand to stop them. "You know, I am still available." he grinned. "If you do decide to trade up eventually."

Kim glared at him angrily, barely containing her rage. "You took my father away from me."

Erik laughed. "Actually, what really happened was that he killed himself when he tried to kill my father. So you tell me who the real bad guy is here."

Kim pulled a hidden radio receiver from her ear and tossed it away as she charged at him. Erik stood his ground and placed his hands on his hips as Kim got within arms reach and thrust a balled fist into his abdomen. The dull sound that came of it was reminiscent of beating a steel beam with a slab of meat.

Recoiling in shock and pain, Kim retreated a few feet away, holding her hand and Erik reached out, grasping her by the neck and holding her off the ground. "Y'know on second thought, maybe you're still a little beneath me." he was looking into Kim's green eyes without remorse or mercy and he prepared to clench his fist around her windpipe when a high pitched tone escaped from her uniform.

A blue sphere of light flung Kim out of Erik's grip, causing him to stumble back as she came to a rolling stop a few feet away, enveloped by a shimmering energy field, and her Global Justice uniform lying in tatters between them, replaced by her white and blue battlesuit. She rubbed her neck slightly as she stood to face him, the few moments in Erik's grip already leaving obvious bruising. "Beneath you? You're not even human. I think you'll be more equally matched with a toaster."

"We'll see." he growled, stretching his arms out in front of him and firing a large burst of energy where she was standing. The battlesuit carried Kim high and into a backflip that landed her on a framework of girders thirty feet in the air. Erik didn't hesitate, and unleashed a barrage of energy aimed at the supports of the girders themselves. Each shot burned through the steel cleanly, and the framework began to collapse, showering sparks down around the area and causing a plume of smoke and dust around where it fell. Scanning the dust cloud, Erik grinned. "That was easy."

Suddenly Kim's blue and white form came shooting out of the cloud in a midair somersault, placing bath feet on Erik's face, her momentum knocking him onto his back as she continued on in a forward flip to land in a crouch and spin. Erik leaped to his feet and spun as well, grinding his metal teeth as he fired a double blast at Kim's midsection.

Kim leaned, her right glove morphing into a long cup shape. She closed her eyes against the heat as the energy blast swept by, and as she caught it in her glove, she reversed her spin, grunting as she pitched the ball of energy over her shoulder back at Erik.

The Synthomech's grin faded a moment before his own energy struck him, throwing him back and through a dilapidated concrete building before sliding to a stop, embedded in a furrow of asphalt on the other side.

Erik was suppressing his laughter, shutting down his own systems as he heard Kim, and several other Global Justice agents approach, including her friends Ron and Wade. Explosions could be heard around him as the Diablos began attempting to get into the base once again, and Erik could barely hear the next few words spoken. "That is not the synthodrone I found at Drakken's lair." Kim said, looking into Erik's eyes.

"This is definitely something new. We'd better get it inside to have a look." came Wade's voice.

"Uhm, hello? Does that seem smart to anyone else?!" Ron said in his usual terrified squeak. "I mean, what if he heals like the Diablos do?"

"I'm not getting any kind of signal coming or going. I'm pretty sure he's... y'know, dead."

There was a long pause before Kim agreed. "Okay. Dr. Director will want to see this up close anyway."

Erik brought his tactile sensors online first. He could feel electrodes attached to his body, and a thin sheet covering him while he laid on a smooth metal table, held down by energy straps. Somehow, they had managed to sever one of his forearms, and he could feel it being probed by various equipment not far from where he was. His internal time clock informed him that two hours had passed since he had allowed himself to be taken captive by Kim, and small tremors quaked through the table he was on, telling him that the Diablos were continuing their descent to the GJ base. When he was as certain as he could be that no one was with him, he engaged his aural sensors as well, listening.

"How is the targeting formula going?" Dr Director asked from somewhere down the hall.

"We shouldn't need more than an hour more." claimed a voice Erik didn't recognize. It had the tone of high intelligence and low body mass, undoubtedly with age and experience behind it.

"An hour?" Dr. Director asked. "Those Diablo robots will be at our doorstep by then. What's taking so long?"

"The Diablos are forming a nearly impenetrable shield, blocking the sky. Trying to calculate a path through them for the missiles to travel is proving difficult." said what was probably another scientist. "If we were to fire without a correct formula, only a fraction of the nuclear weapons would possibly get through. And we really don't know how protected the control satellite is."

So that was their plan, Erik thought. They probably thought that with the control satellite out of the way that the Diablos, and thus Drakken's Empire, would fall apart.

"Dr. Director!" shouted Kim Possible from the other direction.

Dr. Director let out a quiet sigh before dismissing her advisers. "Excuse me, gentlemen. Yes, Ms. Possible? How is Wade doing on upgrading your battlesuit with the Centurion Technology?"

"What? Oh, I don't really know." Kim answered. "Were you aware that Agent Du gave Ron a higher rank than me?"

"I was under the impression that the phrase 'Snooze, You Lose' applied here." came the young Asian agent's voice.

"See?! He hates me! Just because I showed him up on the Killigan mission!"

"You hardly..."

"Ronald took our offer for membership into Global Justice first, Ms. Possible." Dr. Director interjected. "Therefore he received the higher honorary rank."

"That doesn't even make any sense!"

"Do you have a problem with Mr. Stoppable being in command?" Dr. Director asked. "By your own briefing of your escape from Middleton, I would say he handled himself, and you, quite competently."

"Handled me?!"

"Yes." Dr. Director said sternly, shedding all pretenses of friendship. "While you had attempted to face down a vastly superior enemy, and infiltrate an already destroyed structure, Mr. Stoppable had the right mind to evacuate the area in order to deliver vast amounts of factual information to someone that can do something about the situation." there was a long pause, and Erik could picture Kim's hurt and angry expression. "Eventually, you will learn that leadership will often require you to make difficult decisions. Decisions that will be made easier, I'm afraid, if you keep your distance from the people under your command."

"Keep my distance? I don't under..."

"Kim, I've seen time and again what can happen when two agents become involved. You and Ronald are no different, and becoming any more attached than you already are will only make things more difficult." Dr. Director said, adopting a more motherly demeanor now in her voice. "By the way, I believe I asked you to adopt our custom of not letting your hair touch your uniform collar. Trust me, it'll only get in your way. Now, Agent Du... how is our JP Infiltration project coming?" she asked, her voice beginning to fade as she and Agent Du walked away.

Activating his regeneration sequence, Erik could feel his forearm grow back instantly, and the fractured crater in his chest begin to reform. Suddenly, the barely perceptible sound of light footfalls entered the room he was in and he knew Kim Possible was standing next to him.

"I can't believe her!" Kim shouted to herself, her angry voice resonating through the laboratory. She was pacing now, lightly grinding her teeth. "She thinks Ron is a better leader than me? Half the time, he can't even keep his mind off a Naco long enough to remember a villain is chasing him." There was a long pause as her breathing began to slow, and so did her steps. She growled quietly to herself, leaning against the table that Erik was lying on. "No. She's right. When it really mattered, Ron always came through in the end. After all, he might not have realized Erik was a synthodrone, but he did know he was bad road, not to mention the Buenos Nachos sitch." Kim sighed. "I am so over relationships."

Erik activated his optical sensors, his eyes glowing a bright blue under the sheet. Slowly, he sat up, letting the sheet slide off quietly. He grinned at Kim, watching her slowly notice his movement before, gasping, spinning around, and backing away, knocking over equipment before getting over her surprise. "And here I really thought we renewed our connection up there."

"You're alive!" she shouted.

Erik let out a chuckle. "Well that would assume I was human; and let's face it, I'm far better than that." He swung his legs off of the table, the grating sound of metal sliding across metal resonating through the room. "Though I have to admit that you were impressive in your battlesuit, but something tells me it's not on beneath that uniform at the moment." Calmly standing to tower over her, Erik inspected his hand as it finished it's regeneration, his fingertips regrowing before Kim's eyes. "Not that it would do you much good anyway, as you can see." he grinned. Whitish blue energy crackled in his palm and he suddenly aimed his hand at Kim and fired.

Kim dived out of the way as the explosion tore apart equipment, the wall that had been behind her, and split the hall outside the room in half, barring her escape in that direction. Immediately, both weapons discharge and fire alarms began raging throughout the base. After throwing herself into a series of hand springs, Kim landed in a low crouch, ready to evade again. "What are you? A new kind of Diablo?!"

Erik scoffed at her. "I'm better." he grinned. "Compared to this body, my old one was thoughtless. Not my own." he said as Kim put her back to the wall of the corridor. She drew a more obvious looking grapple gun than her more customary hair dryer and fired. "Now everything's so clear! And yet there's something in my program I just can't understand. Something from before." he continued, snatching the grapple out of the air as the razor sharp, three pronged hook passed by his head. "So sorry." he smiled.

He yanked on the cable, pulling Kim down to the floor in front of him as she let out a grunt before letting go of the grapple gun. "Drakken didn't build you this time, did he?" Kim asked, looking up at him as some sort of beam weapon unfolded from his forearm.

Erik grinned, aiming his built in digitization ray down at her. "No. I'm the next generation of your father's Hephaestus Project. Hold still. I'll show you."

As Kim covered her head, Erik's aim was thrown off from an explosive blast from behind. The beam shot out, strafing across the hall, sweeping over Ron Stoppable's head as he ducked on his way toward Kim, and seemed to slowly vaporize a Global Justice agent that had been escorting him into tiny points of light, in a fit of agonized screams. "Captain Possible!" Dr Director shouted from the other side of Erik. "Get to the safehouse! It's up to you now! We'll catch up! Remember what I told you!"

The squad of Global Justice agents were firing energy weapons at Erik, but even the various bursts seemed to be bouncing off of his shiny black and blue armor, though they did get his attention. Ron helped Kim to her feet as Erik turned, returning fire and scattering troops throughout the hall in fiery explosions. "Come on, Ron. We've gotta get back to the Kepler."

"Aren't we gonna help?" he asked, frowning.

Kim's face was stony and cold though, and she shook her head. "There's nothing we can do right now. Not here."

"But Kim..."

"Ron, you took me out of harms way when I tried to rescue my Dad. Now it's my turn. We need to get Wade and get to the Kepler."

While Erik couldn't just ignore the firepower the GJ troops were bringing to bear against him, he also didn't want Kim Possible to escape to parts unknown. Fortunately, he was willing to bet that Dr. Director knew exactly where she was going. He continued his onslaught of energy at the agents that were surrounding her, taking hits and showing no indication that they were bothering him. "Agent Du, launch the missiles and get out of here! We've been compromised!" Dr. Director shouted in her wrist watch. "We'll have to hope some of them get through!"

Erik crouched and his rockets folded out from his back, thrusting him forward and he crashed through the debris that had been blocking the hall. He caught Dr. Director by the collar, dragging her further down the hall before turning a corner and stopping, dropping the woman and letting her slide across the floor. "Where's Possible going?!" he shouted.

"You claim to be a superior being. Figure it out." she bit back, rolling onto her back to fire her pistol. Her other arm reached out behind her and a thin grapple line shot out from her wrist watch, connected to the wall behind her, and began dragging her along the floor away from him.

Erik fired a series of blasts at the walls and ceiling as Dr. Director slid away, collapsing the corridor beyond before she could get too far. The sounds of footfalls were approaching from behind him and he turned, letting loose another salvo at the approaching agents and vaporizing several before rubble began to topple in on top of them. Once he was satisfied that he wasn't going to be disturbed again, he turned back to the Director to find her struggling to free herself from the debris he had collapsed on her. Cautiously, he began walking toward her, his digitization beam protruding from his forearm. "Really, Director... the whole teen witty comeback thing isn't really your style."

"I guess they're rubbing off on me." she said, pulling her weapon out from the debris around her and pulled the trigger. But the weapon only fizzled and died. With her legs trapped beneath stone and steel, several ribs broken, and her face cut and bruised, Dr. Director dropped her pistol. "So this is the end for me, then."

Erik showed an arrogant smirk, aiming the digitization beam. "Are you kidding? When you're stored in Hephaestus, everything you know will be ours."

Dr. Director gave a light, coughing chuckle and smiled. "That's what I thought." she said, flipping open a tiny panel on her wrist watch.

Erik frowned, activating his digitization ray. As the Director's body began breaking down into pixels of glowing light, she clenched one hand over her wristwatch, and a ripple of explosions instantly tore through the base as the self destruct activated.

All around the Oslo Parliament building, a shockwave erupted, pushing up concrete, grass, and dirt before settling into a deep crater that seemed to devour all of the nearby buildings and Diablos that were continuing to try to breach the base. Above them, trails of exhaust lead from all over the world, flashing horrifying lights as the millions of Diablos intercepted projectile after projectile until a hole was formed in a growing plume of smoke and debris from a series of nuclear explosions.

The missiles continued however, escaping the planet's atmosphere and winding away seemingly at random in the direction of the Diablo control satellite. The growing cloud in the Earth's atmosphere obscured anyone from seeing multiple strikes against the satellite before it broke apart, and several more missiles continued on to strike the energy shielding of a large, strangely shaped, but heavily armed starship.

* * *

Processing the memory had only taken a moment, and Drakken subsequently dismissed Erik, telling him to continue patrols for any more human survivors with which to bring back for his Styx Project.

While he supposed that he couldn't blame Erik for toting with Kim Possible all those years ago; After all, he would probably have done the same, but to have been so close to ultimate victory and lose it! Drakken was growling at the injustice of it all until he reached his throne room and cocked his head to the side slightly. His own memories of the days after Erik left to destroy Global Justice were mysteriously short. Even as powerful as Erik was, it would have taken him weeks to dig his way out from under a kilometer of steel, concrete, and stone.

He furrowed the human side of his brow as his throne room door slid aside. With a heavy breath, he sat and did his best to relax and calm. If he was going to try scouring Hephaestus for answers again, he would need to be as inhuman as he could, turning off his anger and curiosity in order to blend in to the megapulses of data that occupied Hephaestus' memory.

At first, he compared the direct memories that Erik had given him to the same sequence of events that Hephaestus had. For the most part, it was quite similar, although Erik never mentioned an anomaly in his programming to Kim Possible in the version Hephaestus had fed to Drakken. He sifted through files like memories, concentrating hard in hopes that he would be able to grasp that fleeting image of what happened while Erik was away. In his own memory, he recalled GJ launching it's nuclear weapons, punching a hole through the layer of indestructible Diablo bots before the Control Satellite's signal suddenly went dead and Diablos in areas with no back up control signals were suddenly reduced to useless toys and fell from the sky. The next thing he knew, Erik had returned and was awaiting his next order.

"What are you hiding from me?" he whispered unconsciously to himself. Hephaestus would undoubtedly be finished with Shego's repairs soon, and It's concentration would no longer be averted. There was something else; something that had threatened him, and his new Empire.

Drakken grinned. No, it hadn't threatened him. It had threatened Hephaestus.

* * *

**March, 2006 - One Year into the Diablo War**

Drakken watched as Erik's view winked out with the destruction of the Global Justice base. "What? What happened? He was supposed to be indestructible!" he cried, searching the holographic view that hung in the center of his throne room for any sign that Erik was still functioning. He slammed his metal fist down on the arm of his chair, bending the piece of furniture into a twisted mess with one hit.

"Regeneration of Erik is estimated at two hours. However, it may take some time before he is freed from the collapse of the Global Justice base." Hephaestus said.

"Did he get their leader? The Director? Without her memories, we'll never find where Kim Possible escaped to!"

"Undetermined."

"Rrrrr!" Drakken growled. "Fine! What about the Diablos above? Did they see anything? How she escaped? Where she went?! What about the Buffoon's tracking signal?" The hologram changed to an outside view of where the Norwegian Parliament had been partially standing. As the ground began to shake and cave in, a long white space shuttle began lifting into the air from a hidden hangar. "That's Possible's design, I know it!"

But as the shuttle rose, so did thousands of other plumes of white smoke as the world's supply of suborbital missiles were launched. It wasn't long before the shuttle was lost in the skies, and Drakken's face fell as bright explosions erupted in the sky. The Diablos that were guarding the way into space began to break formation, attacking the passing missiles as they flew by, but as each explosion vaporized groups of Diablos, letting more and more missiles through. "Diablo loss is inconsequential." Hephaestus stated.

"I need to know if the Control Satellite has survived. If it's destroyed, then not only will the Diablos cease to regenerate, but it will leave massive gaps in their coverage!" Drakken shouted. "Give me a spatial view!" he ordered, and the view changed to one of blackness, interlaced with distant points of light that served as a backdrop for the multitude of missiles that were winding out of control through the upper atmosphere of the planet. Many of the projectiles were exploding against large pieces of garbage that was orbiting the Earth, as well as still intact satellites and bits of rock. Much to Drakken's dismay, at least a dozen struck the long, ringed shaft that emitted the Diablo Control Signal. "Nooooo..."

His voice trailed off as an odd bit of movement caught the motion sensor in his mechanical eye. Several missile hits struck some form of energy shield surrounding what could only be described as a warship that had been in orbit. It had a long, vaguely rectangular reddish main body section with a bulbous observation dome in the middle and a deep red glow that emanated from a recessed hole that one could only guess was some kind of docking bay in one end. Hanging below the main body was a large cannon that was nearly the same length as the rest of the ship. Before Drakken could identify the ship any further, the hologram fizzled out and went dead.

Drakken's face fell. "What was that?" he asked plainly, half expecting the video to continue again.

"What was what?" Hephaestus asked just as plainly, as though nothing odd had just occurred.

Drakken squeezed his eyes shut in frustration. "I swear it's like arguing with a teenager. The ship!" he shouted, flailing his arms. "What happened to the ship?!"

"There is insufficient data to compose a relevant reply." came the artificial intelligence's answer.

"What is that supposed to mean?!" he retorted, spinning around dramatically as though to face the disembodied voice. Before Hephaestus could formulate an answer however, a chorus of loud thumps could be heard outside Drakken's fortress as the defensive perimeter came to life. Massive cannons began pummeling the skies with immense bursts of energy, then one by one began to explode as the warship fired it's main cannon, destroying each offending weapon with pinpoint accuracy.

The ship flew down the canyon that lead to the fortress's main hangar, small point defense cannons firing ripples of energy out to either side and leaving the defensive weapons as smoldering slag. It rose to the top of the building, and settled at the balcony that Drakken had come to frequent as an observation deck. "Hephaestus, scan that vessel!"

Without a fraction of a second's hesitation, Hephaestus replied, "It is a Lorwardian Thorm-Class Scout vessel, belonging to the Warrior caste of Lorwarthia. Usually occupied by one Commander on deep space Inquisitions of minor threats to the Lorwardian Monarchy. It is primarily made up of automated systems..."

"How exactly do you have that information?" Drakken asked suspiciously.

"The occupant should be destroyed immediately. The Lorwardian Warriors are a powerful species..."

"I will decide that!" Drakken replied, exiting his throne room and turning toward the path to the balcony. With a swiftness belying his half mechanical appearance, Drakken reached his destination in record time and stared at the massive ship that had berthed at the end of the catwalk. The sound of a thousand footfalls filling the hall behind him let Drakken know that his synthodrones were there.

The sound of depressurization made Drakken jump slightly as a large doorway slid aside on the warship, allowing steam to billow out. His mechanical eye twisted slightly as it focused and zoomed in, trying to make out features on the nine foot tall, well muscled female form. Sporting green tinged skin made up of tiny armored scales, and wearing what looked like a purple leotard made up of some horrible creature's hide that was decorated with militaristic holsters and bandoliers. Looking up into the female's yellow and red almond shaped eyes, Drakken swallowed hard, wondering why an alien would be here now.

The woman quickly drew a large pistol from her hip holster, the barrel of the weapon being nearly the size of Drakken's fist, and aimed it down at his head. With narrowed eyes, she asked, "Are you the Great Blue?"

Drakken paused for a moment, confused. "Pardon?"

"Are you the Great Blue that has been prophesied to lead the Lorwardians to victory and conquer our enemies?!" the woman asked, waving her pistol around dramatically.

"Victory? Conquer?"

"She lies..." came Hephaestus' haunting voice within Drakken's mind. "She has come to destroy your world."

The woman seemed to be taking in the sights of Drakken's Fortress, or as little as could be seen of just the balcony. "Warmonga sees that you already have access to obsolete Lorwardian technology! You must be the Great Blue to be so clever!" she said, in an almost idolizing tone.

"Obsolete?" Drakken asked, suddenly even more suspicious. The alien woman had just moments before apparently taken a salvo of nuclear weapon hits, blasted through all of his defenses, and was now nearly groveling at his feat and spouting prophecies that he had no clue about.

"Oh yes! Warmonga has far greater technologies upon just my scout vessel. This technology has not been used in many rotations of your planet."

"Destroy her!" Hephaestus was shouting now, in Drakken's mind, and he could feel his body begin to tighten as his mechanical limbs slowly began to slip from his control.

"In fact, Warmonga herself jettisoned the last Lorwardian Forge five of your planet's rotations ago. It was shortly after that I intercepted your transmission and came to find you."

"Forge?" he struggled to ask as Hephaestus continued to bind him under It's control.

Warmonga turned with a smile, holding up a small disk in her free hand. She pushed a button and above the disk formed a perfect holographic image of Hephaestus. "They were vastly inferior to the new Battlement Cubes we have now. The Forges were not portable, their technology unstable, and were prone to developing sentience and egos."

Suddenly, Drakken's mechanical eye flashed bright orange and thick metal claws extended from each finger on his artificial arm and he slashed across Warmonga's abdomen. The alien woman stepped back, stunned and surprised. "It is you who are inferior!" Drakken said, though his voice was deeper now, and retained an eerie echo.

Warmonga glared at him as realization came to her. "The Forges also had telepathic capabilities in order to anticipate their Battle Master's needs. Warmonga assumes you have found one that has managed to somehow evolve beyond it's own creation." Drakken slashed again, though awkwardly, and Warmonga leaped out of his reach, aiming her pistol.

The first bolt of red and yellow energy caught him in the chest, forcing him to take several steps back before the second blast landed in his open mechanical hand. And there it stayed, buzzing and arcing between his claws. Drakken grinned, slashing again with his clawed hand and as the sharp tips connected with Warmonga's armored scales, the energy that was contained in Drakken's palm released, throwing her back several feet against the balcony railing.

The energy pistol clattered over the edge of the balcony and Warmonga pulled herself out of the bent and twisted railing. "Warmonga will not be defeated by a piece of out of date machinery!" she shouted, clenched her gloved fists.

"You will be defeated by the Great Blue, Lorwardian. That is your destiny, now that we have conquered this world. We will soon have an army waiting within us that will rival the Lorwardian Empire, and then we will come for yours." Hephaestus said, It's voice transmitting through Drakken. "Now come here!" It shouted as Drakken reached out with his clawed hand. Separating at the wrist, the hand continued on a tether of energy until the hand clenched shut around Warmonga's neck, then began dragging her back toward Drakken.

"Warmonga!" the alien woman shouted as a battlecry. As she got closer, she dug her boot heels into the steel floor, creating gouges as she moved closer still. With a loud grunt, she clasped a hand around Drakken's natural arm and another around his waist. Despite the added weight to his body from his extensive cybernetics, Warmonga lifted him with ease, lifting him over her head. "Warmonga hopes the Great Blue will forgive her but this Forge is in need of long overdue maintenance!"

As Warmonga kneeled and prepared to bring Drakken's back down on her leg, he twisted with blinding speed. He commanded his mechanical hand to return, and it cut five neat marks across Warmonga's neck. To her surprise, Drakken landed on his feet, slipping from her grip and backhanding her hard enough to tear a normal human being to pieces.

Unfortunately, it was only enough to spin her head to the side and leave four long gashes across her green skinned face. Warmonga retaliated with a single jab that sent Drakken sliding back. She stood, feeling the thin cuts across her face that were oozing out a dark yellow fluid. She pulled a foot long cylinder from her belt and held it out in front of her, causing it to extend several feet in either direction to form a ten foot long staff with a dangerous, serrated blade on one end and a bulbous node on the other that hummed with power. "Warmonga will force you from the Great Blue!"

Warmonga charged, spinning her staff in a whirlwind of motion before bringing the bulb-like end down on Drakken. He knocked it aside with his mechanical arm easily, then defended again when the giant woman spun around to attack with the bladed end. She then stepped back and charged forward, brandishing the bladed staff like a spear. With an eerie calm, Drakken gripped the staff with his claws and his mechanical eye glowed brightly before letting out an intense blast of energy that caught Warmonga square in the chest, knocking her onto her back and forcing her to release her staff.

She rolled over slowly, trying to force herself to her feet. Drakken raised the alien staff over his head, slamming the energy encased bat across the back of the woman's skull, falling her to the floor again with a groan. "Bring her to the Containment Room." Drakken ordered the army of synthodrones that had remained at attention through the battle, intent on keeping the Lorwardian from moving any further into the base. "And keep this handy. She will not be unconscious long..." he continued in the unnaturally deep voice, tossing one synthodrone the staff weapon.

"Acknowledged." the synthodrone replied, stabbing at Warmonga with the staff in order to keep her stunned.

Drakken watched as the thousand synthodrones carted the alien woman back to Hephaestus for digitization, and when they were out of view, he crumpled into a heap on the floor. "Ack! Hephaestus!"

"Lord Drakken." came the once again disembodied voice of the Lorwardian Forge.

"Don't you 'Lord Drakken' me! I had everything under control!" he shouted, his raspy voice taking on an electronic hum as it strained. "Think of what she could have done to help us! Her whole race would have followed me!" he laughed, then suddenly stopped.

"We will guide you, as we have promised."

"But what about this Battlement Cube she talked about?!"

"Inconsequential."

"I'm the Supreme Ruler here! I'll decide what's..."

Drakken's rant was interrupted by intense pain that shot through his brain, as though arcing across from the electronic wiring that composed half of his mind. As he writhed on the floor, Hephaestus' voice echoed around the balcony again. "You will make no decision, Drew Lipsky. While erasing images from your mechanical mind is a small task for us, altering the electrical pulses that make up your own memories is quite painful, and something you will not want to happen again."

As Drakken screamed in agony from a multitude of sparks that crawled over his face and through his static strewn hair, Hephaestus continued with sadistic authority. "You will forget everything that occurred here, Drakken. Everything about the Lorwardians, and We will show you great new technologies until you are ready to fulfill your destiny as the Great Blue."

* * *

"Drakken?"

Lord Drakken opened his real eye to see the mechanized form of Dementor staring at him patiently. If it wasn't for the glowing vent-like vocalizer, he would swear that his dimunitive ex-rival turned unwanted servant was grinning. "What do you want, Dementor?"

"Only vaiting vor orders, Lord Drakken."

Drakken glared at him before answering. "Then leave." he retorted. Finally, he understood why Dementor was here. Without a doubt he was here to spy on Drakken, to see if his memory about Warmonga and the Lorwardians would return. He was being used by Hephaestus, to conquer an alien empire that It felt betrayed and defeated by. Ironic, considering he had used Hephaestus to do the same to Earth and it's population that had branded him a clown. For now, Drakken would keep this renewed memory to himself. As Dementor reluctantly left the throne room, Drakken unhooked himself from his chair and stood, taking a roundabout route to Hephaestus' Containment Chamber to give himself time to ponder these new developments.

* * *

As Shego hung suspended in the air before Hephaestus, surrounded by lights that took on a wireframe form around her synthetic mechanical body. Her time in Middleton's acid fog had done it's damage, disconnecting her temporarily from Hephaestus and the rest of the network. For now, she dreamed. A trait she was certain she didn't share with Erik.

**

* * *

June, 2005 - The Diablo War Begins**

As the remnants of Buenos Nachos Headquarters continued to collapse and burn around Shego and Erik, she heard a voice. "You must get the Digitization Ray."

Suddenly Shego paused, as though confused. "What?" The voice was deep and haunting, unlike she had ever heard Drakken speak before and the man still looked unconscious. "You hear that?" she asked Erik. She then turned to Drakken, whom in all appearance, was still unconscious. "We don't have time to collect your toys, Dr. D."

Erik looked down at Drakken, seeing that he was still unconscious. "Shego..."

"You must! It is integral to my plan!" came the voice again.

Shego growled and rolled her eyes. "Get him out of here." she said to Erik, unhooking Drakken's limp arm from around her neck. "I'll get his digit-what-sis that he can't seem to live without." Before Erik could protest, Shego was navigating her way through the smoke and bodies of henchmen that lay strewn about the control room. She coughed several time, tearing a sleeve from her jumpsuit to cover her mouth and nose. Finally, she spied Drakken's contraption and picked it up in her hands. As she turned to pull it away and catch up to Erik, she found that a number of cables continued to anchor it to the console it was on.

Swearing under her breath, she gingerly put the Digitization Ray back on the console and conjured her glow to her good hand, preparing to swipe at the cables that kept her from escaping with it. Suddenly, a hand gripped her ankle and she looked down. "Evil..." Dr. James Possible said between hacking coughs. He had been badly burned in the explosion, and seemed on the verge of death. For a moment, Shego looked from him, to the Ray, and back again before grinning behind her makeshift mask.

"Finally, someone notices." she said, kicking away his hand.

"No..." Dr. Possible bit out. "Hephaestus... is evil. More than you know." he rasped, clutching her ankle again. "It planned this."

"Whatever." Shego replied indifferently. She turned back to the Digitization Ray and raised her hand to sever the cables. Before she could though, she frowned as the device began to blink a blue light and activated. "Wha...?"

A beam of light shot out, encompassing Shego and Dr. Possible at once and breaking them down into tiny pixels of light that were quickly sucked into the tiny box amidst the flames and smoke. Unseen by anyone, a blueish-green glow quickly moved along the cables that lead out of the small device and into the BN Headquarter's computer system.


	13. Pariah

**Pariah**

A squad of synthodrones patrolled slowly through the ruins of Tokyo, paying careful attention to the debris around them. Like most of the rest of the world, the once shining Capitol of Japan was now no more than a pile of rubble on the island with towering skeletons of corporate skyscrapers that cast frightening shadows from the red sunset.

Frightening, at least, to the six year old Japanese girl that was hiding in amongst the wreckage only a few feet away from the squad of synthodrones and their commander. She was breathing heavily, and a constant ache sat in her chest like a stone. Her tears had ran out a long time ago, and had left their stains in streaks on her dirty face. The clothes she had found were ragged, and barely fit properly. Her black hair was tangled into a mess that hung around her face, and as she motioned to move it out of her vision, her sleeve caught on a piece of metal that slid from where it had been resting.

She gasped as the piece of metal clattered to the ground at her feet and the squad of synthodrones turned in unison toward the sound and the girl screamed out of reflex. The nearest synthodrone leveled it's rifle at her, causing the girl to regain her faculties and run from her hiding place. The first shot struck where the girl had been standing, the next above her head as she moved, running faster than the synthodrone could track. The third bolt of energy severed a beam that was holding up a collection of refuse, dumping it between the squad of synthodrones and their target.

"You fool automaton!" Monkey Fist shouted at the trooper as he pulled the synthodrone's rifle off target with a swift, if oddly shaped and furred, hand. "Drakken wants her alive!" Monkey Fist gave a cursory search where the child had been hiding, and within the nearby curio shop that now passed as a makeshift residence, there lay an unconscious Japanese woman. "No matter. It seems this one leaves a very obvious trail." he said, his laugh reaching several octaves higher than his ordinary voice.

* * *

Joss Possible and Wade Load moved carefully amongst the small dome tents made out of rags and old clothing. There was no sound to be heard, and even animals weren't making any noise. Each soldier carried their own hand held scanner, and remained in their Global Justice uniforms, rather than their battlesuits.

"I swear I am this close to figuring out how to program in a stealth field into the battlesuits." Wade said, distracting himself from his scanner out of habit. "If we were still using the original schematic of Kim's battlesuit, it'd be easy. But mixing the technology with the Centurion Project is really causing some difficulties."

"Really." Joss added, her bored tone completely unhidden.

"Because of the energy to matter transformation, and the DNA specific bonding mechanism that keeps anyone else from wearing a suit, I need to program each new system into each battlesuit individually."

"Fascinatin'."

"And then there's Ron..."

"Tell me about it." Joss said, rolling her eyes. "If that boy held anymore sexual tension about his feelings for Kim, he's going to explode. Or I will." Her attention was diverted back to her scanner as it beeped at her, signalling a nearby life sign. She looked up from the sensor in the direction it directed, to see an immobile arm lying in the grass behind one of the tents. "Wade! Over here!"

Joss cautiously approached the figure she saw, with Wade coming up behind her. "Oh em gee." Wade whispered, kneeling down beside the first body and consulting his scanner. "They're alive."

There were several comatose bodies lying randomly, as though they had all collected in one place and simply fell over. "Yeah. Barely. But I'd say they've been like this for days, exposed to the elements and without food or water."

"Better call Kim and get them out..." Wade stopped suddenly as they both turned their faces to the sky. The sound of rocket engines pierced the silence in the Japan valley. "Erik!"

Joss grabbed Wade by the collar of his uniform and dragged him into one of the deserted tents a few meters away. "If we try to power up, he'll smoke us fer sure!" she whispered, pulling the cover on the tent closed. They watched with reluctant passivity as Erik landed in amongst the comatose victims and grinned, his rocket thrusters returning to their place within his back.

"All organics are accounted for and completely helpless, Father. But still no sign of the target."

* * *

Drakken sat in his throne room and smiled evilly. "Excellent. Digitize and continue the search. If I'm to make more carriers for this little pet project of the Styx Phase of my New World Order Project, I must have the girl returned." he explained, sifting through his various search teams that were scouring Japan. While it would be amusing to see Kim Possible and her team lying on the ground, helpless for all the trouble they've caused him, he couldn't afford to have his new weapon fall into their hands.

* * *

"Understood, Father." Erik replied, stretching his arm out as his digitization ray unfolded from his forearm. With sadistic efficiency, the Synthomech proceeded to break down the entire group of people into tiny points of light, one at a time, until there was nothing left. Joss turned to Wade, and could tell he was shaking. Whether it was fear, or anger, or the same growing bitterness that Joss had come to feel, she couldn't tell.

Erik turned away from the virtual massacre, and unfolded the thrusters from his back before leaving in a burst of fire and exhaust. The moment he had left, Joss put her scanner away and held Wade close. He shed no tears, and said no words, but Joss could still feel him shiver.

* * *

Ron Stoppable was perched on the girders of the Tokyo Tower, wearing his Global Justice uniform and a heavy backpack that threatened to throw him off balance if he leaned back on his haunches. He stuck his arms out in alarm as he tilted too far to his left, feeling a surge of panic. While calling upon his Monkey Powers would keep him from suffering from the fall, he was doing his best to improve his own skills that weren't enhanced by the mystical abilities. So far, it wasn't working very well.

Since the team infiltrated Middleton, he had barely even seen Kim until they had gotten an anonymous, text only transmission signed 'GP'. In it, there had been reports of big time synthodrone patrols scouring Japan, looking for something or someone. Ron had hoped to find some link as to what happened to Sensei and the Yamanouchi school. Since they'd gotten here though, all they'd found was an eerie quiet. Even in the largest cities, there was no activity.

Suddenly, Ron heard a low growl and looked down at his stomach. "Aw... I could really go for another chimerito right about. Leave it to Felix to tease me with..." the sound of energy rifle reports echoed through the otherwise quiet city and Ron shifted his attention to the streets below. Charging through the rubble was a full squad of synthodrones, firing their rifles at apparently nothing. He looked ahead of them, squinting and accessing his mystically enhanced senses.

A young Japanese girl was running, sliding, and performing somersaults in a desperate attempt to get away from her pursuers. Ron grinned. "Well now. This looks like a job for the Ron-man." he said, standing up and placing his fists on his hips in a heroic pose. The sudden change in stance however, caused him to fall backward from the unfamiliar weight of the backpack. "Whoa!"

Ron's unstable footing sent him sailing off of the network of girders and he caught the next one within reach, purely out of reflex. He planted his feet on the next one, rolled off, and hand sprung off the next, swinging and using his momentum like a monkey until he reached the base of the building. His path lead him to rolling to a stop at the base of a large mound of broken concrete that surrounded a crater. He stood up and brushed himself off, noticing a large tear that crossed over the rear of his pants. "Aw man!"

The Japanese girl crested the horizon of the mound, running straight toward him with an intense look of panic and fear on her face. Within seconds afterward, a half dozen synthodrones came over the mound as well, firing their rifles in order to herd the girl into a capturable position. Ron stared down at his feet in irritation, picking up several scraps of glass and metal. His eyes darkened into a deep blue as he glared at his targets, and his aura flared to life, enveloping him in the shadow of a raging monkey. With a snap of his wrists, the pieces of scrap flew from his fingers like shuriken, tearing through the synthodrone's husks and dumping their yellow fluids onto the shattered pavement.

Ron ducked beneath several more blasts of energy as he moved toward the girl, who had managed to hide behind the pillar of what used to be a shopping mall of some kind. "It's okay." he said reassuringly, trying his best to not look threatening despite his mystical aura and the intermittent sound of screaming monkeys that pervaded the area. "I'm not gonna hurt ya."

"Look out!" the girl cried and Ron looked away to see a synthodrone shoulder it's rifle and fire, catching him square in the chest and knocking him through a securely boarded up window.

Ron's aura flickered a moment as he groaned, shaking his head and coughing through the resulting dust cloud. The girl climbed through the path Ron had made and continued over him, running down one of the abandoned halls of the shopping mall. "Hey, wait!" he shouted, reaching after her and struggling to his feet. "I'm trying to protect you!"

A large, purple gloved hand planted itself on Ron's shoulder and he deftly gripped it in his hands, pivoted, and spun, pulling the synthodrone off of it's feet and using it's own momentum to flung it out the hole he had fallen through to catch four others that were on their way. Heaving a sigh, he turned back to where the girl had run off to, and faded to a blur as he gave chase.

The girl rushed through a pair of double doors, pushing them open with the crash bar that was remarkably still intact and operable. She was watching behind her for her pursuers, trying to catch her breath and still remain on her feet. As she turned to keep running, a pair of bare feet with long, splayed toes caught her eye and she looked up at the black uniformed Commander of the synthodrones that had been chasing her. "Ah, so it would seem our quarry has come to us." Monkey Fist smiled. "Come along, now. This charade has grown quite tiresome."

With a loud shout from within the shopping center, both double doors blew out and collided with the synthodrones that were standing to either side of Monkey Fist, causing the mutant ninja to duck out of the way as well. "Come on, kid!" Ron shouted, collecting the kid up in one arm and pulling a cord that was attached to his pack. His aura faded instantly as the denim pack burst open and metal wings extended from both sides. Ron grinned at Monkey Fist and gave a salute before the thrusters of the old jetpack sputtered, coughed, then fired, sending the pair spiraling into the sky.

"Stop them!" Monkey Fist shouted, pointing a hairy finger at Ron. The remaining synthodrones filled their path with energy, and Ron spun and weaved as well as he could while still holding onto the girl until a blast struck his right wing.

The stabilizer began to shake and tear, and Ron grimaced, looking for a place to land nearby as the barrage of energy subsided; the jetpack taking them temporarily out of range. Smoke began to pour out of the growing space between the wing and the jetpack fuselage before it began spouting flames. With one arm still around the girl, he pulled the quick release on the jetpack's harness and began to freefall, listening to the pack fly away erratically before it exploded.

Surprisingly, the girl wasn't screaming half as loudly as Ron was, and even let out an unfamiliar giggle. Ron closed his eyes and held her close, conjuring his aura back again in preparation to strike the ground, but still felt the wind get forcefully expelled from his lungs as he landed on his back. The concrete wall of an abandoned hotel disintegrated with Ron's collision, and the crater that resulted from his impact on the ground level of the building's foyer left Ron groaning. Without hesitation, the girl climbed to her feet and out of Ron's crater, charging for a nearby room that had recently been used as shelter. "Hey!" Ron coughed, poking his head out of the hole as his aura faded to smoky blue wisps, and surveying the area. "Aw, come on!" he whined, pulling himself up. He could hear crying from the nearest room, and quietly moved toward it.

"Stay away!" the girl shouted as she backed herself into a corner of the room.

"Now just calm down." Ron said with a friendly smile. Despite the aches and pains running throughout his body, his time helping Kim babysit at times in High School, as well as their volunteer work had prepared him at least a little for this. "Can you tell me your name?" he asked, approaching her cautiously. The girl said nothing, frowning at him and cowering away. "Not a talker, huh?"

The girl shook her head.

Ron let himself loosen up, trying to look relaxed for the sake of the girl despite the situation they were in. "You must be pretty tough to have a whole squad of syntho's and Monkey boy after ya..." he said, then suddenly paused, touching his chin in thought. "Come to think of it, I haven't even warranted that. Not that Drakken even remembers who I am, either." He shook his head, clearing away the thought. "Anyway, we're not going anywhere fast, so we'd might as well get to know each other. My name's Ron. Hello." he grinned, trying to get a reaction out of the girl as he put his hand out for her to shake. She shrunk back, whimpering.

Ron frowned, bringing his hand back reluctantly. "Okay, let's try something else. Do you know why Drakken's synthogoons are after you?"

The girl shook her head again, sliding down the wall to sit and hug her knees. Ron was about to speak again when she beat him to it. "Don't know." she said. Her voice was shaky and cracked, as though she'd done little else but scream for quite awhile. "They had me in some place. With needles, and robots. They was stickin' me with needles and puttin' patches on me. Kept talkin' about sticks for some reason."

"A lab?" Ron asked, suddenly feeling a tinge of anger well up at this new low of Drakken's. "Is that it? They had you in a lab?"

The girl nodded. "Lots of us. Brought there by the big metal flying man."

"Iron Man?" Ron asked, confused.

"He called the blue man his Daddy."

Ron laughed out of embarrassment. "Erik. Right."

"Most of them came in screaming, but left not breathing. That made the blue man mad." she said, explaining as well as she could. Her voice had the definite inflections of a Japanese accent, but Ron was surprised at her grasp of English. It was nearly as good as his own. "But then I saw a way to get out an' the Monkey man's been chasin' me. I've been runnin' and runnin', but he keeps findin' me."

Ron blew a breath out. "Well I think we can safely say we've lost them for a little while. Get some rest." he said with a smile, gesturing at the bed in the room. "I'll make sure Monkey Fist doesn't get ya." The girl nodded hesitantly, but curled up on the pile of rags that covered the mattress. Ron felt his stomach gurgle again, and the aches in his muscles still hadn't ceased. "I have got to get some Nacos in me again."

* * *

"We've searched all along the East Coast. The settlements there are all empty." Wade said, pointing at a detailed, pre-Diablo satellite image of Japan. "Drakken seems to be cleaning house."

Kim stood in her uniform, her long red hair back in it's braid, and the acid burn scar now nothing more than a rough blemish on her cheek, thanks to Joss' expert medical care. She was standing between Wade and Joss with Rufus perched on her shoulder and her hands were settled on her utility belt, as she listened intently to Wade's report. "It must be some kind of weapon. Knocks people out, leaves them helpless until Shego and Erik can scoop them up."

"Seems like it's just around the island though. We haven't gotten any reports of this kinda thing around the rest of the world at all. I reckon it's gotta be just a prototype or somethin'." Joss said. "Some o' them folks have been like that fer days."

"Ron to Kepler." came a whisper from inside the ship's bridge.

Joss reached into the ship through the entry hatch, taking the radio mic that was housed at Rufus's weapons station. "Readin' ya loud n' clear. Whatcha find?"

Ron wiped sweat from his brow and swallowed, as though hard pressed to keep his breakfast down. His arms, legs, and back were continuing to stiffen, and he raised his communicator to his face again to speak. "Trouble. Monkey Fist is here, leading some kind of search for a kid I managed to find."

"Can you get to us?" Kim asked, taking the radio from Joss, leaving her little cousin with an irritated look.

"I'm thinkin' not. Jet pack's gone. There's drones all over the place. We can probably stay hidden, but not sure I'll be up for a fight if Erik or Shego show up. Think I had some bad rations."

"Rations don't go bad..." Joss said slowly, then everyone's faces fell in realization.

Kim hardened her emotions, trying to push away the thought that Ron had somehow been infected with Drakken's weapon. "Wade, get a lock on him." she ordered, then activated the mic again. "Hold on Ron, we're coming for you."

* * *

"Roger that..." he answered weakly. He looked back at the girl, who had managed to fall asleep, and was obviously dreaming. Her legs and arms twitched in fear, and there was a quiet sobbing escaping her lips as she curled herself into a fetal position. "Drakken, you are going..." he began to whisper before a voice erupted over his communicator.

"So, Ron Stoppable." Monkey Fist said into his radio. He had set the contraption to a broadband frequency, wanting to be certain the boy would hear him. "It would appear as though you've latched onto something that isn't yours. While I would lavish the thought of striking you down, I haven't the time. So, if you release the girl into our custody, you will be free to go along your merry way. How does that sound?"

Ron glared down at his communicator, and whispered in a hoarse voice. "Suck a lemon."

* * *

The Kepler flew high over the vast cityscapes and ruined farmlands of Japan, a silent intruder several miles above a once proud and powerful country. When the Buenos Nachos restaurants here had begun handing out cybertronic robots armed with state of the art weaponry in all of it's kids meals, all of Japan had become saturated with the high tech Trojan horses. The several year rule of only one child per family was severely overshadowed by it's already overcrowded cities, and the sheer popularity of the Diablo toys appearance, having rumored to have been stolen from Mr. Nakasumi, the manga toy designer.

"How much longer?" Kim asked from her command chair. Her left leg was shaking in intense impatience, and her tension could be felt throughout the ship.

"At our current speed, it'll be about a half hour. If you keep buggin' me about it, it'll take a little longer cause I hafta keep checkin' our ETA." Joss shot back from the pilot's seat.

"Ron is out there sick, and..." Kim began in defense.

"And in danger, I know. I'm worried about him too, Kim. He's a friend to all of us, but if we go too high, we'll hit Diablos and if we go too low, we'll be spotted by synthodrones, and if we go too fast, we'll bring them all to his position." Joss retorted, reminding Kim of the dangerous situation they found themselves in. "So unless he's a little somethin' extra to ya... something that means chancing that, then let me get us to him in one piece."

Kim was uncharacteristically silent for a moment before a symphony of squeaks came from behind her. She turned, waiting for the translation. "Erik incoming at three o'clock."

"Spoke too soon." Joss grumbled under her breath. "And no Ron. Haven't we done this dance before?"

"Doesn't matter. Can you evade?" Kim asked. Sparks flew as the Kepler rumbled, resulting in a terrified shriek from Rufus as a fire burst out of his console. Kim ignored the panic, instead half listening for the hiss of the fire extinguisher that the naked mole rat kept at his station. "Joss?!"

"I'm trying!" the pilot called back in frustration, putting the ship through maneuvers that no space rocket should ever have to be called on to do. "She's got a big ass, alright?!"

And Erik was taking advantage of that fact, having learned from his previous encounters with the Kepler. Being far more maneuverable than the bulky rocket, and having exact control over his direction and thrust, he remained fifty meters behind the vessel, leisurely blasting away with his energy cannons and grinning with sadistic glee without worry of the ship's mounted point defense cannons.

Unfortunately, the Kepler's shielding and armor were also very thick, and from this range, it would take him a long time to pierce it.

"He's scanning us, Kim!" Wade announced.

"You guys did replace the plating that got eroded in Middleton, right?" Kim asked, looking at both her long time webmaster friend and little cousin.

"Uh..." they both said in unison, looking at each other sheepishly.

"Jackpot." Erik said to himself as a rough, yet seemingly well polished and worn down piece of plating presented itself in his sensor enhanced vision. He fired a combined blast with both hands at the weak spot, tearing open the armor and sending a cascade of explosions rippling underneath the plating in the surrounding area.

The crew of the Kepler winced and covered themselves as a series of capacitors blew, sending waves of sparks erupting along the center of the ceiling in the bridge. "What's the damage?!"

"Main power coupler's gone, Kim!" Joss reported, now trying to keep the exposed side of the Kepler out of Erik's line of fire.

"All secondary systems have already failed. Either we land soon, or not at all!" Wade added.

"What about the missiles?!"

"Launching system is still operable, but there is no targeting available." came Rufus' translation.

"Queue one up with thirty meter timers." Kim ordered. "Joss, gimmee a Crazy Ivan."

Joss looked back at her. "Kim, the Kepler might not be able to handle it in her condition."

"Whether it works or not, if we don't get to Ron, it won't matter. Punch it!" she shouted as another panel exploded from the wall behind her.

"Hold on." Joss said under her breath, a grin spreading across her face as she turned her attention back to her controls.

The Kepler's maneuvering thrusters pivoted in VTOL mode, throwing the rear end of the ship forward, spinning in a one hundred eighty degree rotation to directly face Erik. As it did, the ship's underbelly unfolded to reveal two racks of missiles that fired in a plume of smoke, spraying out in a horizontal strafe that cut across Erik's path.

Erik stopped in mid flight and rotated with ease, moving to skim above the layer of offending projectiles and approach the crippled ship. "Gotchy---" he began when the fan of missiles suddenly exploded, all at once. The blast was enough to send him tumbling away through the air, and he shook his head from the impact of the concussive force. "What the... I can't see!"

"Nice work." Kim smiled. "Better take us down while he's stunned."

Erik looked around, his vision full of static. "I'm switching to thermals but there's nothing out here!"

"Continue with the search, Erik." Drakken ordered. If Possible's on her trail, you'll be facing her again. "Either way, I want that girl returned! Alive, if you don't mind."

"As you wish, Father." he replied in frustration, taking one more look around the area with his thermal imaging before continuing on.

The Kepler rested on it's landing skids directly below where the battle had taken place, in a field of brown grass, and disguised as another rolling hill. "Okay, Kim. He's gone." Joss said, looking out the forward viewport. The crew stood in their battle armor, fully sealed against the self imposed vacuum.

Kim nodded and gestured to Wade, who stood at the back of the bridge next to the entry ramp. The door opened and a gush of air came in, waking Rufus, who had instantly gone to sleep. Kim powered down her battle armor and heaved a breath. "Okay, how long until we get this thing back in the air?"

Joss' armor flashed and faded as she deactivated it, grabbed her tools, and passed Kim on her way out the exit. "Hard to say. Rerouting all power to the hologram shorted out a lot of primary systems, and supercooling the hull by ejecting all the air nearly ruptured our life support tanks."

"How long?"

Joss glared back at Kim, but the woman wasn't fazed. "With the safety protocols that'll keep us from becomin' a Fourth of July celebration? A half hour."

"And without the safety protocols?" Kim asked, raising an eyebrow.

Joss looked at the scar in the Kepler's armor. "Assuming we don't explode on the ground... I'll let you know Cap'n." she smiled sarcastically.

* * *

Ron sat down next to the bed that the girl was sleeping on. His uniform was saturated with sweat, and he could barely move his limbs from stiffness, as though rigamortis was setting in before he even died. The girl woke up with a start as he jostled the bed, and she moved away from him out of reflex before crawling closer again. "You're sick. Everyone gets sick but me. Then they just stop movin'"

Ron struggled to swallow before taking a breath to speak. "It's okay, kid. We're gonna get out of here soon. My friend Kim is gonna save us. I've got a Stoppable fortress..." he said, nearly dozing off before forcing himself awake. "Fortress of immunity."

The girl frowned. "You're lying! Everybody lies to me. Even Sensei lied to me." she whispered under her breath, curling herself into a ball against the wall.

"Who?" Ron asked, the simple question nearly sucking the breath out of him.

"Ron Stoppable..." came Monkey Fist's voice from Ron's communicator. He pulled it out from his pocket and stared at it, as though he couldn't quite decypher what it was, exactly. "My dear friend whom stole my destiny as Supreme Monkey Ruler!" he said in a growing rage. Ron rolled his eyes. "Do you hurt all over? Is your breath strained and weezy? Too weak to respond? A pity. Then please, just listen. Within a half hour, you will undoubtedly be unable to move or speak. How do I know this, you ask?" Ron could hear the sadistic grin in Monkey Fist's voice. "You see, the girl you have with you is Drakken's newest toy. The only one to survive our tests. She's the perfect carrier for our plague. The Ultimate weapon." he chuckled. "In fact, it reminds me of a legend I once read about that your pathetically uneducated mind undoubtedly won't recognize. That of the Han."

The word caught the girl's attention instantly, and she cautiously approached Ron again, listening intently.

"It was supposedly an ultimate weapon to be utilized by the Monkey Master to take control of the world." Monkey Fist said dreamily. After a breif pause, his voice took on a much angrier tone. "Not that any of us will know now, will we?" Another pause as Monkey Fist sighed. "But I digress. As much as it pains me to do so, I am authorized to make you a deal. You give me the girl, and we will give you the cure. You must know there is no escape. Erik himself shot down your cheerleader friend and is on his way here now..."

The girl snatched the communicator out of Ron's hands and began shouting into it. "Leave me alone! I don't wanna go back, just leave me alone!"

Ron struggled weakly to take the communicator back, but it was already too late. "Han, you're gonna give us away!"

Monkey Fist grinned as he pointed to a nearby synthodrone. "Lock onto that signal!" he ordered, then waited a few tense moments as the girl continued shouting into his radio. The synthodrone nodded an affirmative and Monkey Fist shouted, "Go! Get the girl and destroy the buffoon!" He waited as the automatons took the lead, then added under his breath, "Maybe then I will regain my Mystical Monkey Power and will be able to throw off these chains of slavery."

A bolt of energy came through a boarded up window, scoring the inside of the room that Ron and Han were in. "Get down!" Ron shouted, pushing Han away as he struggled to stand. He swallowed, standing as straight as he could as he concentrated. His eyes darkened, looking more tired and haggard and he drew in a breath as his blue, monkey shaped aura materialized, flickering like a dying candle. The faint sound of monkeys could be heard echoing through the room, but their screams were subdued like a whimper, rather than the fierceness that they usually were.

He turned to exit the room, tossing a synthodrone to the side as it rounded the corner, and moving forward with lightning speed. As synthodrones were struck and tossed into the air, he would strike them again before they fell and they would explode while still breaking through the brick buildings that remained in the Tokyo cityscape.

"Lookout!" Han cried as she watched from the broken in window. A burst of energy turned into an explosion of sparks as it struck Ron in the back. He turned, lifting a cinder block from the rubble at his feet and hurling it at his attacker as he leaped to the side to dodge another shot.

Synthodrones continued to pour in around him, and Ron was tossing them aside, using some as a weapon against others until a bolt struck him in the chest, knocking him to his knees. As he fell, he clasped his hands together and brought his hands down with a shout, causing the debris strewn area around him to ripple and rise, tearing synthodrones apart and knocking them back with the shockwave.

Ron's aura flickered again as he rested on his haunches, breathing heavily. He looked up at the sky as the sound of rocket thrusters thundered overhead. "Erik. Lovely."

The synthomech landed in front of Ron, grinning as his rockets folded into his back. "You're not looking too swift Stoppable." he said as he stepped toward him.

Monkey Fist watched from afar, peering through debris with the remaining synthodrones behind him as Erik approached Ron. Finally, the end of Ron Stoppable was near and he could quite possibly have his Monkey Powers returned to him.

Ron gave a weak smile as he struggled to his feet again, his knees wobbling and sweat pouring off of him. "At least... at least I'm not ugly as evil. As evil as you." he said, stumbling over his words. His aura continued to flicker, turning into smoky blue wisps that seemed to blow away in the wind.

Erik looked at him quizzically. "That didn't even make sense." The synthomech reached out and clutched Ron's shirt, pulling him close. "I've been looking forward to this for a long time, Stoppable."

Instantly, Ron sneezed, resulting in a gob of mucus running thickly down Erik's face. "Okay..." Ron said, breathing heavily. "I'll pucker up, but I should warn you, I'm a little under the weather."

Erik growled and forced Ron to the ground, causing an obvious imprint in the pavement and Ron's aura to finally fade. Erik stood straight, holding one hand up and unfolding his digitization ray. "You're done annoying me, loser."

"No!" Han screamed, running out from her hiding place to cover Ron's unconscious body with her own. "I won't let you hurt him!"

"Out of the way, kid!" he shouted back, moving the push her out of the way.

Han narrowed her eyes at him and clutched his mechanical hand in hers, throwing him effortlessly to crash into a beaten old dumpster. "I said no."

Erik pulled himself out of the twisted metal husk of the dumpster and stood, shaking his head and turning to face the girl. He cocked his head to the side slightly, as though not completely certain as to what had just happened. Han was glaring at him and balling her fists. She showed no indication of having Ron's super powers, or even aware of any martial arts technique to speak of.

Erik approached her again, stood ten feet away and opened his palm, blue bolts of electricity arcing between his fingers. "Step aside or I'll burn both of you to the ground." he growled.

"No."

Erik wanted to fire, if only to make an example of anyone that would dare to stand up to him. But Drakken wanted the girl whole and alive in order to create more carriers. Reluctantly, he closed his hand and growled, leaping forward and swatting at the girl. Han lifted her tiny forearm and blocked, then blocked Erik's left hook as he tried to strike her from the other side. He clapped his hands together as she ducked, clearly becoming frustrated, and she drew both hands back and jabbed, striking his knee joints.

The fractured armor around his joints lit up and regenerated instantly, but the surprise that the six year old girl actually did any damage was evident in his features. Han backflipped away, reaching an impossible perch upon a broken concrete pillar. As Erik looked up at her, a rock struck him in the forehead, causing a dent before deflecting off. "Rrrrr!" he growled, blasting away the pillar with his energy cannons.

"Hey, stupid head!" Han shouted from another pillar.

Erik spun at the sound, vaporizing the pillar into dust with a single blast.

Han poked her head out from around another pillar that was still supporting the majority of an office building and stuck out her tongue at him before hiding behind the pillar again. Erik fired again, moving closer. His sensors hadn't even picked up her moving from pillar to pillar, and he was beginning to wonder if they were still damaged somehow.

A blur appeared around another pillar, then another and each one exploded into a thin, lingering dust that smelled of burning dirt. Erik held out each hand, grinning in triumph as he waited for her to appear again. But as the rubble settled and a peaceful quiet filled the old car port, a growing strained creaking could be heard and Erik looked up, his grin fading. "Ah sh--."

The remaining pillars shattered under the weight of the structure as the carpool collapsed, sending out a massive dust cloud in every direction as several tons of concrete and metal fell into a heap.

"Kim! There!" Joss said, pointing to a mushroom cloud of dust in the city below.

Kim sighed, but smiled nonetheless. "That's Ron's signal if I've ever seen it. Take us down, Joss."

* * *

Ron's eyes fluttered open. He was warm, and felt oddly clean and comfortable. He tried to move, but was still having difficulty lifting his arms, as though he was strapped down. Then he noticed he was wrapped tightly in flannel blankets. Groaning, he tried sitting up.

"Hold on, cowboy." came Joss' voice. "You had quite an adventure."

"I did?"

Joss put a finger to her lips, gesturing Ron to be quiet. She nodded to the foot of his bed, to where Kim was uncomfortably draped into a chair, sleeping soundly with the Japanese girl in her lap. After being cleaned up with her hair cut short, she looked like a normal six year old. Strangely, Ron noticed, the girl was also sleeping soundly, without the telltale cries and twitches she'd had before. "You've been out cold for a week. Kim's been watching you and Hana the whole time. Even cleaned you up. Says you've got a lot to live for." Joss said with a sly smile, shining a pen light in his eyes to check for dilation.

Ron blinked the spots out of his eyes. "What happened? Last I remember, Erik showed up and I blacked out."

"Well, you dropped half of a skyscraper on him, so far as we can tell." Joss explained. "Good thing, too. You must have left your communicator on when you summoned your powers." She pointed to a twisted and melted chunk of plastic that sat on a table next to him. "We lost your signal until the building collapsed."

"And the weapon?" Ron asked.

"Inert." Wade said as he and Rufus stepped quietly through the door. "Thanks to your friend, we took a blood sample and Kim's mom was able to create a cure that Mr. Possible was able to mass produce."

"And without the girl, Drakken can't make any more carriers. She's pretty special, Ron." Joss smiled.

Ron looked over at Kim and Han again with a goofy smile before relaxing into his bed again, and letting his eyes drift closed again. "They sure are."


	14. Undue Parallels

**﻿Undue Parallels**

The Passages were an immense network of underground tunnels that the American military had built many years ago to transport precious cargo across the country secretly. Once it was clear that the Diablos weren't going away any time soon, the military, in conjunction with Global Justice and founded by Mrs. Dr. Possible and the Stoppables, the Passages were set up as a nomadic refugee camp that could be easily moved along the tunnels if Drakken's forces showed up. Fortunately, Kim Possible and her team had been keeping him busy enough that a tunnel full of refugees didn't seem to be an immediate threat. At the moment however, the cramped spaces were being a detriment as a mutated, lethal strain of Infectious Mononucleosis swept through, and medicines were scarce.

"Hey mom." Kim said, giving her mother a tight squeeze.

Mrs. Dr. Possible returned the hug, then held her daughter at arms length with a tired, overjoyed smile. "You still look beautiful, honey. I'm glad this war hasn't changed that about you."

"Mom..." Kim said, blushing.

Dr. Possible inspected the thick braid that hung over Kim's shoulder. "Is Ron still doing this? I know you always had trouble..."

Kim shrugged slightly in embarrassment. "He's good at it. Says it's just like making lanyards back in Arts and Crafts at Wannaweep." she explained, sliding the lengthy lock of hair out of her mother's grasp to let it fall down her back. "Now what is this about mono sweeping through the Passages?"

Annabeth Possible knelt down beside an unconscious patient that lied on a gurney next to them. "Only a few years ago, this could have all been treated easily. Without basic medical supplies though, it's spreading quickly."

"That's why I never kiss a guy on the mouth." Joss whispered to Wade, who only looked back at her in confusion.

"We got your message and brought what we could." Kim said, taking a small satchel from Joss and giving it to her mother. "But it's all we can spare right now. Supplies are spreading thin."

Dr. Possible opened the satchel and frowned. "Not to sound ungrateful Kimmie, but this isn't near enough."

"I know..."

"Aunt Annie..." Joss said, interrupting. "What is it?"

Dr. Possible looked from Kim to Joss and let her shoulders slump. "It's Jim. He's sick and getting worse. I'm not sure how long before Tim gets it too."

Kim swallowed, standing in silence a moment as Wade and Joss stood awkwardly behind her. It wasn't that long ago she lost her Dad, but now this war was threatening to take her brothers too. How long before her mother was lost as well? Kim looked into her mother's tired blue eyes and wondered if she herself wasn't already sick.

A clatter of metal on metal echoed through the tunnel, and the unsuspected, yet welcome sound of a child giggling followed soon after. "Hana! Come back!" Ron shouted, a tired whine touching his voice that always seemed to present itself when he was forced to work. "You're gonna break something!"

Kim and her mother winced as another clatter rippled through the tunnel. Kim turned to her mother again and sighed, unconsciously pushing out her bottom lip as she always did when asking for something she knew she wanted more than needed. "Mom, I need to ask a favor."

"No, Kimmie."

"But Mom! The GJ base is no place for a six year old!"

"Look around, Honey. Until we get this under control, this is no place for the children we have on their way." Dr. Possible said, gesturing down the tunnel to a familiar blond couple. "I can't imagine a safer place for a child than with you and Ron."

The comment was innocent enough, but Joss was quick to pick up on it. "I've been trying to tell her that for months, Aunt Annie."

Kim ignored her little cousin, and turned back to her mother despite keeping her line of sight on the couple. "Is that Josh and Tara?"

"The human species is dwindling, and people want comfort. Contraceptives aren't exactly high on our supply lists." Dr. Possible answered.

Kim frowned. She had brought them here to safety after they had both tried to kill her. Now here they were, trying to make a life for themselves in this mess, and something as silly as Mono was threatening to end it. She wracked her brain, trying to find an answer. "Mom, if there was some way to get the medicines you needed..."

"What's wrong, Cap'n? If I recall, anything is possible for a Possible." Joss said amongst another racket of laughter, clanging, and Ron's whining echoing through the tunnel. When it seemed she had everyone's attention, she added "Drakken's main chemical factory?"

"An attack on one of Drakken's most heavily defended factories?" Wade asked. "That's suicide!"

"No it's not." she argued. "Besides, it won't be an attack. Just me..." Joss said, taking a deep breath. The idea of going back into Drakken's territory as an infiltrator, and possibly getting caught was a nightmare she thought she had left behind ages ago. But if it was the only way. "I know the layout, the security systems. I even still have my old uniform."

"Whether it still fits..." Wade said in what he thought was a whisper. Unfortunately, the tunnel and it's inhabitants had chosen that moment to fall deathly silent except for a single cough. "Uh..."

"I'm gonna just pretend that didn't come outta yer mouth."

"That was a long time ago, Joss. A lot has probably changed." Kim said.

Joss stepped up to Kim and pointed at Josh and Tara. "We could save the world Kim, but if we can't save them... If we can't save who's gonna come after them, then what the Hell is the point?" she said quietly as she looked squarely into Kim's emerald eyes. "The world's gonna be here whether Drakken is or not. It's the people on it we have to worry about."

"Now Joss..." Mrs. Dr. Possible said, reaching out slightly to stop her, but Kim could tell her mother agreed with her cousin.

Slowly, Kim nodded. She turned again to where Hana had approached Josh and Tara, and was able to bring a smile to the soon to be saviors of humanity. "Okay, Joss. This is your show. Let's save your world."

* * *

"There's not much there, Joss." Ron said with a frown. Rufus could be heard snoring in his uniform pocket, and Hana was running circles around the central banks of computers in an endless loop. Something she'd been doing all morning with boundless energy.

Joss looked at Ron's monitor. It showed surveillance pictures of the area around Chem Prime that they had gotten from Larry's crew, and much like the rest of the major cities in the world, San Diego was reduced to a smoldering ruin. "The lab itself is underground, beneath the rubble. Being run by humans though, it'll have venting that leads to the surface."

"Well, where'd you want us to meet you?" he asked.

Joss pointed at the screen, to a clearing in the city. "Here. It's a little close, but if I'm on my way out in a hurry, I wanna quick exit."

"I hear ya. We'll be there." Ron said, grinning as he reached out to snatch Hana around the waist. Unexpectedly, her momentum caused Ron's chair to roll wildly around her and slam into the far wall of the command room.

Joss ignored the pair, moving over to Wade. "You got that equipment?" she asked, putting an arm around his shoulder and looking down at his work bench.

"One set of Wade specials are ready to go." he said with a smile, laying out several items in front of him. "One laser pen, a maglock comb, magnetic resonance glasses, grapple floss, and a fresh batch of knockout lip gloss."

"Lip gloss?" Joss asked. "But I thought..."

"I had to make do with some of Ron's socks." he whispered, causing Joss to cringe.

"Joss." Kim called, suddenly appearing at one of the entrances to the control room. She gestured for her little cousin to follow her before turning to leave.

Joss sighed, whispering to Wade as she turned to follow. "Now I guess we'll see if I'm alive long enough to use any of that gear." Wade let out a quiet chuckle as Joss left, and she climbed the short set of stairs out of the command room to where Kim was waiting. She rubbed one shoe over the other nervously before she approached. As much as she was sarcastic, and prodding of Kim, Joss was still impressed by her and Kim always had a habit of making Joss feel inferior, just by being near. As much as it had hurt to see her own father gunned down in front of her, Joss had let go of not being able to save him early on. But Kim had literally grown up a superhero, being able to do anything. Joss could only imagine how hard the fall had been for her. "Kim? I'm sorry I..."

"Don't apologize, Joss." Kim said with a lopsided smile. "It's nice to be reminded sometimes of why we're here, still fighting." Joss nodded, but remained silent. Hearing Kim apologize was almost like having her old cousin from before the war back. Many of her customary niceties had melted away since losing her father. "I do wish you'd take your battle suit, though."

Joss shook her head. "I'll be settin' off every alarm the moment I mosey through the door. I am intendin' on bringing my guns though. You can never have too many of those." she grinned.

Kim nodded and smiled. "It's your call."

"There's somthin' else buggin' ya, ain't there?"

"I guess it just kinda hit me how... Josh and Tara... y'know."

"Did the nasty? The horizontal shuffle? The bump and grind? The..."

"Alright, I get it." Kim said with a sigh.

"But Kim, aren't you the one that kinda set'em up?"

Kim looked back at Joss, confused. "I know. Josh and I would never make it. We didn't before and we wouldn't now. It was just a nice thought to hold onto. Now that they're..."

"Joined at the hip?"

"Stop that!"

"Sorry." Joss admitted, blushing slightly.

Kim looked at her for a few more moments, as though judging her sincerity. "Now that they're more than just a couple, that idea kinda deflated. I'm glad you were there to pick up the bag."

"Maybe you should stop dreaming about what could be, and start acting on what's now. You're not in High School anymore, Kim. It's time to grow up."

At first, Kim's body flushed with anger at having her immature little cousin telling her to grow up, but then the words she had used rang loudly in her mind. Her anger subsided, and a sad smile crept across her face. "I said the same thing to Ron in his treehouse a few weeks before Prom Night. He had freaked out about the Diablo toys at Buenos Nachos, and though I doubt he'd admit it, Erik and I dating."

"Erik really hurt you, didn't he?"

"I think I could have recovered from Erik being a synthodrone if things afterward had gone differently."

"You mean if Ron had been a rebound guy?"

"What?" Kim asked, surprised. "No! Joss, relationships in this kinda sitch make things..."

As Kim struggled for the right words, Joss interrupted her again. "Easier to live with?"

"Complicated." Kim said finally with a glare.

"Horse puckey." Joss retorted. "You're starting to sound a bit too much like Betty with your by-the-book 'tude. That's not how you used to win, Kim. You won where GJ lost plenty of times."

"And I lost when it really counted."

The pair sat quietly for a moment before Joss finally spoke. "You ain't talkin' about Drakken winnin', are ya?"

"When I saw my Mom tired, and working around those sick people and heard that the Tweebs are sick too... Joss, I'm losing everyone I've ever cared about. If I lost any of you guys too... Joss, I'm trying to tell you to be careful." Kim said, looking down at the floor.

Joss stood and began walking toward her room. For a moment, she stopped and turned. "And I've been tryin' to tell ya for awhile that if ya don't _stop_ bein' careful, we ain't gonna win."

* * *

The crew sat in the Kepler with Kim in the pilot's seat instead of her command chair. Ron sat beside her in his usual place, and Wade and Rufus were both at their respective stations as well. Joss, on the other hand was sitting in the passenger compartment, dressed in her old uniform; a sparkling skin tight leather outfit that did, despite her annoyance, feel a little snug. Hana sat beside her, wriggling in her safety harness and humming a song that Joss was finding oddly soothing.

Upon boarding the Kepler, Joss was very nearly going to change her mind about the whole plan and go in guns blazing. At least she would be more at ease. The memories of first being captured and having a compliance chip first implanted had been haunting her since she first suggested infiltrating the laboratory. Ever since her Aunt had taken it out with Kim and the others holding down as the chip forced her to fight against it, she had exercised her free will. To go back to that state of being a captive in her own mind was the most terrifying thing.

Suddenly the lights in the passenger compartment dimmed to a dark red, signaling that Kim had activated the infrared sensors and turned off the running lights for their stealthy approach. Hana stopped her humming and let out a quiet whimper, undoubtedly reminded of the dark labs where Drakken's minions had done their experiments. "It's okay, kid." Joss said with as friendly a smile as she could muster. She doubted her uniform was helping Hana's fears become elated at all, but there wasn't a whole lot she could do about it at the moment. "Pretty soon we'll have the medicines we're lookin' for and be back helpin' the people that need it."

Hana forced a smile onto her face, doing her best to relax as the ship slowed, descended, and stopped. The tell tale sign of a few of the other teammates activating their armor reverberated through the substructure of the Kepler, and Joss unbuckled herself from her safety harness. "We've got a squad of synthodrones heading our way, Joss. Hold tight." Kim said over the intercom.

"Always am." she replied under her breath.

* * *

Kim, and Wade climbed out of the Kepler wearing their battle armor as Ron followed with Rufus perched on his shoulder. While the mole rat's battle body was far too bulky and heavily armed to be used for stealth, but Rufus himself could be deadly against synthodrones in hit and run strikes. "Okay people, we've got twelve synthetics that have to go down before they're allowed to reconnect to the network. That means five seconds."

"Quick and easy, Kim." Ron said with a smile.

"Remember, Ron. This has to be done quietly."

"Kim, please." Ron said with a smile, beginning to walk away toward their target. "I'm a Ninja Master." His tone was placating, but Kim winced as his foot caught the buried forks of a rake that comically snapped the handle up to catch him in the cheek. "Ow! Who'd leave that..." he shrieked, closing his eyes and holding his face as he backed away into a pile of scrap pieces of metal that scattered and clanged together noisily.

"Are you done?" Kim asked, a smirk forming on her face as she stood watching with her arms crossed.

He laid there motionless a moment with a frown before climbing to his feet in another clamor of metal on metal. "Yes." he answered quietly.

"Then let's hope we don't run into any drones that may have heard us arrive."

"Or rakes..." Wade added with a snicker.

* * *

"Detecting transport sized vessel one hundred meters East." announced Synthodrone One One Three Nine, holding up a scanner. The rest of it's squad waited for orders with rifles at the ready, and One One Three Nine called them forward with a wave of it's arm. "Investigate and elimina..."

* * *

Kim's grapple punctured through the lead synthodrone's chest and pulled the quickly draining husk into the darkness. Using the in flight synthodrone's body as a spring board, Kim performed a high flying somersault and landed with a roundhouse kick that felled two more synthodrones.

Wade launched a set of darts from his gauntlet that lashed out, striking a synthodrone in the upper thigh and sending bolts of electricity surging through it's internal goo. Blisters began to form and it's vocalizer let out a high pitched warble before it's husk burst open, sending super ionized synthogoo splattering on several of it's companions and sending them into electrostatic shock.

Rufus leaped from the rubble around the synthodrone's feet, biting hard into the husks of several synthodrones, lunging from one to the other in a flurry of pink flashes.

Ron dropped in behind the squad without a sound, his blue aura flashing as the rest of his teammates attacked. He dug his hands into the concrete beneath the synthodrone's feet, lifting a large section of asphalt and turning it over. Three of the synthodrones were crushed beneath the weight, and in less than three seconds, the attack was over. Ron grinned at Kim and Wade as Rufus climbed up his uniform to sit on his shoulder. "Cool move, huh?"

Wade stabbed a small blade into the two synthodrones that were still writhing on the ground. "Show off." he said, looking back at Ron and grinning through his face plate.

"I think we need to work on your sneaky skills some more, Ron." Kim added as she began making her way back to the Kepler. "We don't know exactly how far from the surface this base is. If they heard asphalt being torn up..." she said, looking back at him. Ron's grin had faded, replaced with a disappointed frown. "There's no way they'd believe it was a human being. You might have just covered our tracks. Good job." Kim smiled shyly, trying to keep herself from tearing Ron's confidence down anymore than it already had been. Fortunately, Ron's goofy smile returned, but with a sense of slyness that was unfamiliar. Kim turned away, using her myonetic suit to increase her speed toward the Kepler.

The run back to the ship was quick, and Kim approached the holographically disguised ship first, using her battle armor's radio to send a message to Joss by line of sight. "Path's all clear, Joss. Wade figures you've got one hour to get in and out before they realize their patrol is gone."

The entry ramp unfolded from the Kepler and Joss climbed down the steps, smoothing her uniform. She nodded to Kim and the others as they waited at the base of the steps. "Hana's in the passenger compartment, playing with an old tennis ball." she said, trying to keep her nerves steady.

Ron, Wade, and Rufus climbed the stairs into the Kepler after giving their good lucks, and Joss was beginning to make her way toward the Chemical Laboratory. Before she managed to get very far, Kim grabbed her arm. "Joss, if you're not there in an hour..."

Joss nodded and forced a smile. "Then I guess you won't have to listen to how you and Ron should be jumpin' into the sack anymore."

"Joss..." Kim began, narrowing her eyes in irritation.

"I know, I know." she replied with a chuckle. "I guess I reckon if somethin' like that could happen, then maybe we really can save the world." For once, Kim let a smile break through at that explanation, and let go. "I'd better move if I wanna keep botherin' ya about it though."

"Good luck, Joss." Kim said with a nod, allowing Joss to continue.

* * *

Joss crept through the rubble until she neared a surveillance tower with a synthodrone manning a focused beam scanner mounted over a Death Ray. Taking the Mag Res glasses from a pouch on her hip, she slid them on and activated them. Normally, their battle suits came equipped with such a device, allowing synthetics to literally glow in their environment. Not having her suit on meant she had to improvise.

The world around her faded to black as the magnetic resonance glasses came online, with the bits of scrap metal sparkling like diamonds around her, interspersed with concrete; which was devoid of all color, and was thus practically invisible through the glasses. The synthodrone in the tower shined a bright yellow, showing every movement of the synthetic's body and even the flow of energy within it's gelatinous matrix. While this was certainly helpful, the true use of the glasses were realized as the now visible beam of the scanner swept by like a spot light, easily seen and easily avoided.

Waiting until the scanner beam passed by, Joss stealthily moved toward a vent tube that sprung up from the ground, slightly out of place amongst the destroyed ruins of the city. She put her back against the wall and crouched behind the vent tube as the scanner swept by again, and Joss pulled out the laser pen from her pouch. Clicking it on, the red beam cut slowly and quietly through the fused, steel vent until she could fold it open like a lid and she crawled inside.

Pulling the makeshift lid closed over her head, Joss braced herself in the narrow tube and traded her laser pen and mag res glasses for her small container of grapple floss. She attached the small magnetic coupler to the lid of the vent, and allowed the thin wire to unwind from the disguised spool as she descended down the tube.

The trip down was lengthy, as the chemical factory was buried deep below the surface. One thing about having an endless supply of tireless labor like synthodrones was that construction of such underground bases could be done quickly and with devastating efficiency. By the end of her floss cable, the tube had begun to slope inward toward the base, and Joss let go of her grapple line, sliding down the sloped vent. She continued to gather speed, passing alternative paths in the tunnel that would lead to other sections of the base.

Suddenly, the hum of energy beams reached Joss' ears and she slowed her descent by pressing her palms and feet against the opposite side of the tube until she was uncomfortably wedged in place. Below her was a grid of red, glowing beams of lethal energy, very similar to the McHenry security mesh that the GJ base had. "Okay Kim, point to you." she whispered to herself, trying to maneuver into a more secure posture. "Things have certainly changed."

Crawling down slowly to a position just above the laser grid, Joss inspected the area around the beam projectors. Just on the other side of the lasers was mounted a technicians control panel for maintenance. She blew the hair out of her face in frustration, and struggled to reach the maglock comb from her pouch. Carefully, she slipped the comb through the narrow gaps between the lasers and activated it. Several probes, scanners, and a control panel popped out of the comb and Joss inserted it into the card reader slot of technicians console.

Joss was clenching her jaw in determination now as her legs and arms began to shake and her feet began to slide. "Come on..." she whispered, feeling the heat from the laser grid on her rear end. Without warning, the console beeped and the web of lasers fizzled out. Joss relaxed her tiring muscles and let herself continue her fall, snatching the maglock comb as she swept by.

Internal vents began to pass by, and Joss counted in her head until she reached the point where she remembered the laboratory was near. Putting her hands out, she began to slow her rate of speed, cringing at the squeaks that resulted from her leather gloves sliding along the metal walls. After coming to a stop, Joss settled onto her back and took a heavy breath, trying to calm herself as she closed her eyes and listened.

There were voices both human and synthetic echoing through the venting, talking about various projects and security issues and orders, but so far as she could tell there was nothing about intruders or breaches in the perimeter, allowing Joss to heave a sigh of relief.

Spinning around in the tube, Joss began making her way further down until she reached the next internal vent, and listened. The sound of machines were loud here, but the lack of human voices was the best indication that the room was clear. Her intention was to find a reactor maintenance room, and from what she could tell, she had succeeded.

Taking the laser pen from her utility pouch again, Joss cut a circle around the vent and caught it before it could fall noisily to the floor. She poked her head out cautiously and surveyed the room, then after climbing out of the tube, turned to weld the vent cover back into place with the laser pen.

* * *

Kim was pacing back and forth in the passenger compartment of the Kepler, with Hana mimicking her movements as best she could, jumping from footprint to footprint. "It's been too long." Kim finally announced, checking the clock that was projected onto her battle armor's heads up display.

"Amp down, KP." Ron stated from his lounging position across several passenger seats. Rufus was sleeping, curled up in the cockpit of his own robot body, and Wade was in the upper level in his communication station, watching for alarms. "Joss knows what she's doing."

Kim stopped pacing to look at Ron and Hana bumped into her from behind, letting out a subdued giggle. "How much do you trust Joss's ideas, Ron?"

"Well, she did point out how I'm the real hero, with all that running into danger despite being afraid..."

"Of everything?"

Ron made a sour face. "Not everything!"

Kim held out one hand, "Bugs... Monkeys..." she continued, holding out her other hand. "Wicker furniture..."

"Hey, you try sitting on it with no pants!" Ron retorted, folding his arms defensively. "It pinches, alright?"

Kim shook her head. "It's just that some of her ideas lately seem a little..."

"Awkweird?" Ron asked, catching Hana as she raced toward him, now bored with Kim's lack of movement. "She's got a point though."

"She does?" Kim asked, perking up.

"Sure. I mean, if we don't take Drakken down, then what kind of world is little Hana gonna grow up in?" he asked with a frown. Hana, apparently sensing Ron's sudden mellow attitude, stretched her arms around his neck to give him a hug. Kim felt her throat well up as though she was about to cry, but a tender smile crossed her face despite as she stared at Ron and Hana. Somehow, the little girl actually made Ron look more mature, and made him sound a little more philosophical.

"Ron, that's not what I..."

"Kim." Wade's voice said over the intercom. "We've got trouble."

* * *

Joss tucked up against the wall of a corridor, a synthodrone guard in sight. She knew the synthetics would be an obstacle, considering they all had perfect facial recognition. Her uniform would mean little if her face was in the database as an enemy. Their thick husk was nearly impervious to blunt attacks and even small projectiles that weren't armor piercing. Fortunately, Kim's team had equipment to deal with the synthodrones, and Joss unsheathed her diamond edged, mono filament knife from her sleeve.

The synthodrone stood several inches taller than Joss, and she had to get a run in order to stab the blade through the synthodrone's vocalizer that was mounted inside the husk at neck level. She used her momentum, using the handle of the knife as a pivot point to spin the synthodrone a quarter turn and kick the door control next to her. As the door opened, Joss strained to pull the synthodrone into the room as it flailed it's arms in an attempt to attack. Tossing the synthodrone to the floor, Joss pulled her knife free and slapped her hand against the door control, closing it behind her as the synthodrone husk deflated and poured yellowish green ooze onto the floor around it.

"Okay, Mr. Synthodrone. Let's see what kind of clearance you've got." Joss said to herself, sheathing her knife and patting down the empty husk, being careful to avoid stepping in the synthogoo. She fished a key card out from around the synthodrone's neck and held up her trophy with a smile. As the card spun on it's chain, a reflection of movement in it's shiny surface caught Joss's attention and she ducked to the side as a uniformed woman sprang past her, sliding through the synthogoo.

The woman, who couldn't have been more than fifteen years old, climbed to her feet and charged at Joss, who thrust her leg out while bracing on a number of large containers. Her boot connected with the woman's gut, pushing her away and out of breath. "Now just hold on..." Joss said, holding out her hands. Blasting through synthetics was one thing, but having to take another human's life was a flashback that she didn't want.

The woman scrambled for various tools that were on a workbench, hurling them at Joss before charging at her again while she was off balance. The woman grabbed Joss around the waist, pushing her back against the containers in the room. Joss quietly cursed herself for not practicing hand to hand styles more with Kim, instead priding herself on her accuracy with a firearm. The woman knocked Joss to the floor and straddled her, drawing back an arm for a solid punch to the face.

Joss lifted an arm to block, sliding her knife out of her upraised sleeve and slashing it across the woman's arm. The cut was clean, and there was no power left in the punch. Joss threw her off and stood, holding her knife defensively as the woman crawled away, suddenly frightened. "Look, just hold still and I'll help ya."

"You stay away from me, monster. You're nothing but a terrorist!" the woman shouted, putting her back against the far wall.

"You're gonna start losin' a lot of blood if you don't start gettin' pressure on that." Joss replied, ignoring the woman's accusations. "Let me do somethin' about it."

The woman had hair similar to Joss's, but had a slightly heavier physique. One that was more accustomed to desk work and leadership than combat as Joss was. "Fine, if you're going to kill me, do it quick."

Joss narrowed her eyes as she approached the woman, letting a frustrated sigh hiss through her teeth. "Maybe you've lost too much blood already considering you're not even hearing what I'm sayin'." she said, taking a set of zip straps from the work bench and banding the woman's hands to the handles of a cabinet above her head. Taking her knife, Joss cut the opposite sleeve of the woman's wounded arm into strips and began tying them around the wound. "This'll have to do for now."

"Who are you? Why are you here?" the woman asked as Joss twisted up the last strip of cloth, obviously for a gag.

Joss thought for a moment, debating whether she should tell the younger girl anything. Patching her up was enough, wasn't it? She had purposely avoided any arteries, as killing the woman wasn't her intention. But there was definitely a familiarity in the girl's eyes that Joss recalled from when she herself had a compliance chip implanted and couldn't believe in anything other than what the chip allowed her to. "My name's Joss. I'm a part of Kim Possible's team."

"Impossible! Kim Possible is dead. You're nothing more than a terrorist that's going to be incinerated by Lord Drakken's war machine!" the girl replied with conviction.

Joss rolled her eyes and sighed, vaguely wishing she could muster that kind of dedication still, even if it was forced at the time. Gagging the woman, Joss looked hard into the girl's frightened eyes. "Try not to fall asleep and you'll be okay. I'll be back."

* * *

"Is the Styx Phase still on schedule?" Drakken asked Erik as the synthomech stood off to the side of a holographic display.

"Yes, Father." Erik replied, standing calmly and at attention. "Even though your experimental variation of the weapon vanished with Kim Possible, the primary aspect of Styx Phase is set to launch within a week."

"Speaking of that little experiment, how about you regall us with how you were crushed by a six year old girl, cuz that never gets old." Shego grinned from the other side of the throne room. She was carefully shearing the metal fingertips of one hand with the green glow of the other, sharpening them to wicked points.

Erik cast a sharp glare at her, but when she ignored it, he turned back to Drakken. "I told you, she's not a typical human." he snapped.

"We will have to look into this further, then..." Drakken began before being interrupted by a human face on his holographic display.

"Lord Drakken, sir. Hello!" came the familiar cheery voice of Hank Perkins. "We seem to have an intruder in Chem Lab Prime, sir."

"Who is it?" Drakken asked.

"Uncertain, sir. We have no video confirmation, but a patrol of synthodrones was found destroyed outside of the base's perimeter."

"Shego, Erik... Go and bring this intruder to me. Whoever they are, they've gotten cocky to come this close. They must be made an example of." As the pair of synthomechs turned and left Drakken's throne room, Drakken spoke into the air. "Hephaestus, what is the ETA on the Prometheus and Icarus phases of New World Order?"

"Both phases will be ready to fire in two point six months." replied the deep, haunting voice of the alien forge.

Drakken grumbled to himself. "Why so long?! If Kim Possible discovers..."

"The Prometheus satellite has proven difficult to build, and the Icarus cannon requires massive amounts of energy to be stored within the dynamos. So long as we remain vigilant however, this fortress is impenetrable."

* * *

Joss crawled out of a vent into a clear hallway and put the vent cover back into place quietly before standing and wiping all emotion from her features. The compliance chips that were installed in every one of Drakken's human followers tended to subdue a lot of human attributes in all but the most willful. Kim herself had managed to keep much of her humanity while under the control of a compliance chip years ago while trying to recover it for a Dr. Bortel. Unfortunately, Joss hadn't been that strong and much of the compliance chip programming had become residual after she had been freed from Drakken's control. Things like real, emotional and romantic love had become foreign, and she had thought that maybe compassion had as well until faced with the choice of ending her accidental captive's life. Deep down, she was starving to feel something again, or at least to see someone else feel something other than pain. Watching Kim, Ron, and Wade retreat into themselves the last few years had been disheartening, and she was truly beginning to wonder why they were trying to save humanity when it had already given up.

She stepped out into the hall, walking stiffly and emotionless as a group of human technicians walked by, completely ignoring her, confident that they had no worries within the compound of Chem Lab Prime, defended by Drakken's unbeatable synthetic army. Joss slowed her pace as she reached a chemical storage room, and with a quick swipe of the synthodrone's keycard, she slid inside and came face to face with an Asian woman in a black lab coat.

"Technician Wong, let me see your orders." Joss stated instantly, revealing nothing.

"Of course." the woman said, unquestioning Joss's motives. Her uniform was that of a graduate in Drakken's Empire, whereas the technician was only a minion now, despite her expertise before the Diablo War. While it seemed like an egotistical move for Drakken to keep his intellectual betters at the bottom of the proverbial corporate ladder, it also kept them from having too much power and access should they manage to break the compliance chips control.

Joss took the woman's PDA and inspected it. "Good." she said. "I have new orders for you."

Wanda Wong took the PDA back and read it over, her eyes twitching as the new information was uploaded into the compliance chip, compelling her to obey. At least until someone of higher rank found her cleaning latrines.

Joss looked about the room once the doctor left, gathering all of the medical supplies that she could put into her pouch, according to her Aunt Annie's list of supplies that were needed, as well as a synthodrone patch kit. While extraordinarily uncomfortable to have applied, a patch kit could be used as a makeshift first aid kit. "Good enough." Joss whispered to herself, turning on her heel to exit the room. A gleaming red alarm blinked on the door control and Joss swore under her breath. At some point, a silent alarm had been activated, meaning the base and all of it's synthodrones were on alert, but were uncertain who they were looking for.

She felt the patch kit in her pouch, seriously reconsidering the implications of not immediately escaping. Straightening her uniform, Joss took a breath and did her best to quash her nervousness beneath a facade of robotic calm. Anything suspicious now would be met with investigation, and that was something that she could not afford.

* * *

"I'm seeing a lot of activity around the perimeter, Kim." Wade said, watching the infrared scope. "Looks like Joss set off a hornets nest. Security beams are going up all over."

Kim made her way through the cramped cockpit of the Kepler to look over Wade's shoulder. "Any sign of my wayward cousin?" she asked. The security beams that had activated were normally invisible, and could only be seen with the Kepler's infrared scanner. Without her battlesuit's sensors, Joss won't even know they're there.

"Nothing yet. She does have twenty minutes before the scheduled rendezvous time. It could be she doesn't even know the silent alarm's been set off."

Kim nodded. "Let's hope she remembers as much as she says." She pat Wade on the shoulder, flashing an encouraging smile. "Keep an eye out."

* * *

Joss quietly entered the work room where she had left her captive. Even during a silent alarm, she knew this section of the base was low priority and would be checked last. Unfortunately, it was only a matter of time before the destroyed patrol on the surface failed to report and the synthodrone that now lied empty of fluid on the floor at her feet was discovered missing.

The young woman was still strapped to the work cupboard, and barely conscious with a line of blood running slowly from the wound on her arm down to her shoulder and soaking her shirt. Joss quietly shut the door and the woman's eyes struggled to open. Joss approached her and unfolded the patch kit. "If I take the gag off, you're not gonna scream, are you?" the woman shook her head weakly, hovering on the verge of passing out.

"Why... why are you doing this?" she asked, watching as Joss unfolded the patch kit.

"You mean why am I saving your life?" Joss whispered. "I guess I'm just that cruel."

"Cruel?"

"I'm guessing you won't be coming with me, and returning to workin' for Drakken ain't what I'd consider good times." Joss said with a sarcastic smile, placing the synthodrone patch over the girl's wound and rubbing the accompanying catalyst stick along the edge, grafting the rubber-like patch to her skin. Joss clamped her other hand over the woman's mouth, suppressing her agonized scream as the patch bonded and cauterized.

When the screams subsided and faded into heavy breathing and tears, Joss took her hand away, cleaning up the blood that had run down the woman's arm. "How would you know anything about the glory of following Lord Drakken? All you know is pain! As Lord Drakken tries to bring everyone to a future of peace and immortality, people like you try to keep them in squalor and suffering."

Joss let out a light chuckle, packing up the patch kit again and putting it into her pouch. "I remember that speech. Is Drakken still using the same one after all this time?" she asked. "What's your name, kid?"

The woman frowned and hesitated a moment before answering. "Katelyn."

"Well Katelyn, let me tell you about a little girl that had to watch her parents get gunned down by synthodrones with Diablo bots blockin' out the sun above the ranch she grew up on. As she ran away as her dad told her to, she was rescued by a young Global Justice Agent named Will Du, and for a year he taught her how to fight synthodrones."

Katelyn snorted at the mention of GJ. "Of course. Brainwashed by Global Justice. You do know they were destroyed years ago, right?"

"Oh, I know. Y'see, this girl had become pretty smitten with Agent Du in that year and when he didn't come back because his hyperjet was shot down, she fell apart; and was captured by Drakken's army. She was recruited, and rose through the ranks to where you are now. She was forced to believe all the lies by her compliance chip until Kim Possible found her and removed it."

"I told you, Kim Possible died when the Diablos struck." Katelyn snapped.

"That's what I thought too, for awhile. But why do you believe that?" Joss asked, standing. Katelyn was silent and looked away. "Because if she was alive, she wouldn't have let all this happen, right?" Joss smiled. "Your chip is telling you she can't help you, but it won't give you a reason why. Well I'll tell you. She's coming, she's just got some issues to work through."

"It's not possible..." Katelyn said sadly.

"I think you'll find that anything is..." Joss began before a loud, blaring alarm filled the room. "Well, you'll live kid. But it's time for me to go." Joss turned away, sliding out the door.

Katelyn glared after her and began kicking at the work bench, slowly shaking a small utility blade off of the counter.

* * *

"What's our sitch, Wade?" Kim asked as she stepped out of the elevator into the cockpit, leaving Ron in the passenger compartment, playing with Hana to keep the girl calm.

"Shego and Erik are closing fast, Kim!" Wade shouted, and Rufus gasped from the weapons station at the rear of the cockpit. "Looks like Chem Lab Prime just lit up, too!"

"Of course... Ron, we need you up here now!" Kim shouted into the intercom. "Wade, Ron and I will take care of Erik and Shego. You and Rufus get Joss out of there."

"But Kim, last time you went toe to toe with Shego, things didn't work out so well." Wade said, looking back at her with concern.

Kim flashed a grim smile at him as she stood to exit the ship. "Then I'm due." she said, opening the entry ramp and descending the steps to the broken street they had landed on. Ron stepped into place beside her as she spoke. "Okay Wade, extract Joss first. We'll hold off the 'mechs." she said into her battlesuit's comm system. "Let's go to work." she said to her partner. The Kepler closed it's entry ramp and lifted off with barely a sound, moving quietly toward Joss's chosen rendezvous point.

"Got a plan, KP?" Ron asked, searching the cityscape. The faintest sound of rockets tearing through the sky could be heard over the Chem Lab's alarms, and even in the shimmering light of dawn, a hazy dust cloud could be seen moving along the ground toward them. "Because here they come!"

"Actually, I thought I'd wing it." Kim relied, feeling Ron look at their approaching enemies, then at her and back again, and felt an unfamiliar annoyance at his concern. She had volunteered to face Shego while Ron kept Erik busy because they had to. If they managed to get to the Chem Lab, Joss wouldn't have a hope without her battlesuit. Neither would Wade or Rufus, for that matter. Wade was an invaluable asset and had come into his own as a field technician, but he still lacked the combat skills to hold up against more than a few synthodrones; and while Rufus had seen his share of combat and had twice the fire power of any other member of the team, the bulky robot body was slow and awkward. It would be torn apart quickly by either of the swift moving synthomechs. That left Ron and his Monkey Powers and Kim with her specially constructed battle armor that did little to hinder her natural talents for movement and martial arts.

To one side of them, Erik landed hard, creating a crater that he stepped out of with a satisfied evil grin. To the other side, Shego stopped her blindingly fast run on a dime, her hands already burning in green fire. "Okay, sport." Shego said, referring to Erik as she stepped closer to Kim and Ron. "You take the sidekick, and when I'm done with Kimmie, I'll give you a hand."

"Take your time, Shego. I'm going to make this quick so I can clean up your pieces." Erik retorted.

"Are you two done, or are we going to watch you fight each other instead?" Kim asked plainly. Shego growled and charged, her clawed hands ready to strike. Kim smiled confidently, knowing that her battle armor put her on as equal footing with this synthetic Shego as any of their battles in High School. Kim grabbed Shego's wrists and fell back, pressing her armored boots into the synthomech's midsection and rolled. The battle armor's myonetic enhancements activated and Kim used the extra power to fling Shego away and through the concrete wall of the ravaged building behind her before continuing to roll back to her feet.

Ron had seen Kim take on the particular stance at least a dozen times and moved out of the way, summoning his glowing blue aura as he did. Instead of charging into the melée, Erik instead opened both of his palms at Ron and they erupted with energy, exploding bits of pavement at Ron's feet. But Ron moved erratically, bouncing in awkward leaps from the street, to nearby buildings, swinging off of remaining supports, and performing flips that defied gravity before Erik lost track of him. Suddenly, the air shimmered above him and Erik reached out his hand in a solid punch that caught Ron in the chest as he appeared. Ron, surprised, was knocked back and skipped across the rubble like a stone on water before stopping in a pile of refuse.

Shego burst out of the building she had been thrown through, launching a volley of green energy at Kim. Leaping as Ron flew by, Kim performed a backward somersault in the air and drew her pistol, firing a series of near blind shots back at Shego and landing on a platform two stories up. Two bursts of energy found their mark on Shego's torso, leaving blackened marks that were quickly regenerated. The green fire, on the other hand, severed the supports of the platform Kim had landed on, and she began to slide down the toppling concrete.

Ron climbed to his feet and readied himself, shaking the dust off of his shoulders as he performed a Tai Sheng kata. But Erik continued to keep his distance, firing directly at Ron's body with one hand and wherever he would land with the other, keeping the Monkey Master moving and unable to strike. Ron rolled, leaped, tossed up bits of rubble to intercept incoming blasts, and spun around obstacles that exploded as he passed.

Kim fired her grapple at a building across the broken street before the cement platform fell out from under her, the sharpened head drilling itself into the concrete. Shego continued her assault as Kim swung in a wide arc, the mid point of her grapple cable hooked on a remaining street light post, drastically changing her trajectory to plant both feet into Erik's back, throwing him off balance.

Ron was already moving toward Erik when Kim struck the synthomech in the back, and he leaped high with the echoing screech of a monkey, bringing both fists down on Erik in a flurry that sounded like a symphony of hammers on a steel drum.

Though surprised by Ron's sudden ferocity, Kim refused to hesitate and spun, flipping a button on her weapon to unhook the grapple from it's place in the concrete, and retract it. The cable began to rewind, and the grapple hook shot back and whipped around the post Kim had used to turn in mid flight, catching Shego across the face. It created a deep gash across her metal cheek before it returned to Kim's pistol as a mangled chunk of bent steel. Green light shined out of Shego's wound as it closed up, and she found herself face to face with Kim, narrowly blocking Kim's strikes that continued to dent her normally smooth, black metal body.

* * *

Joss leaped through a surface exit of Chem Lab Prime, both of her pistols filling the hallway behind her with bursts of energy. Without her suit's targeting system and gyroscopic aim assistance, most of her shots were wild and erratic, and her pistols no longer had a power source to feed off of. She was running out of ammunition. "Damn it." she cursed to herself. "Gotta remember that more than enough guns is always acceptable."

She slapped the door control as she ran past, firing a shot into the control panel in order to keep the synthodrones from opening it easily. The light from the Kepler could be seen in the sky, approaching low and soundless, and Joss smiled at the sight of it, beginning to move forward until the sound of metal popping and the smell of melting steel caught her attention. The barrel of one of her pistols fell to the ground at her feet as she stopped.

There was a faint buzzing sound around her, barely audible over the sound of alarms and as a test, Joss motioned her damaged pistol ahead slightly to find another few inches fall to the ground. "Lethal, invisible laser grid. That's new." she said to herself as the synthodrones chasing her threw themselves at the door she had just come through. She holstered her remaining pistol and searched frantically through her utility pouch. Pulling out the lip gloss, she shrugged and took a deep breath as she opened the tiny container.

A translucent pink vapor wafted out from the fake lip gloss, surrounding Joss and drifting into the cross crossing lasers. The knockout gas popped and sizzled as it moved through the grid, causing the beams to appear momentarily and Joss wasted no time carefully making her way through the lethal security system.

The array of lasers were several feet wide, and Joss heard the door buckle and burst open as she began to straddle the last beam, silently cursing herself again for not taking the time to learn some of the cheerleading moves that would have carried Kim through such an ordeal seamlessly. Joss fell onto her back, outside of the laser net as eight synthodrones burst through the doorway, and were subsequently diced by the laser grid, spewing their sickly yellow synthogoo over Joss.

Joss let out a sigh and rested a moment before climbing to her feet. The Kepler touched down several feet away, and Rufus stepped out of the entry, the hip mounted energy cannon on his robotic body vaporizing synthodrones as they tried to attack the ship. Wade poked his helmeted head out of the entry of the Kepler and shouted, "Joss, come on! We need to go now!"

"Don't move." Joss heard from behind her as she began to move toward the Kepler. She turned to find Katelyn holding one of the synthodrone rifles awkwardly with her injured arm. She stood on the other side of the once again invisible laser grid, the barrel of the rifle aimed directly at Joss's chest. "I... I'm loyal to Lord Drakken, and I have orders to bring you in or destroy you."

Joss wiped the synthogoo from her mouth and eyes, then looked the younger woman in the eyes. The compliance chip would push her to obey her orders, but Joss hoped that she had the will to fight it. "You're human, Katelyn. You have other choices. You're right, can can shoot me down right here, but I can tell you I won't go back. Or you can come with me. We can remove the chip and you can go somewhere safe."

"I have orders..." Katelyn struggled to say.

"Or I can leave now, and you can forget this all happened. You can continue living how you are, and keep on servin' Drakken."

"Come on, Joss!" Wade shouted. "Kim and Ron are keeping Erik and Shego busy, but they're not going to last forever!"

"Kim Possible's still alive?" Katelyn asked, her rifle lowering slightly.

Joss nodded. "Things are about to be changin' soon, I promise." When Katelyn didn't raise the rifle again, Joss backed away a short distance before turning to run toward the Kepler.

* * *

"Hands off the merchandise, you dirty ape!" Erik shouted as he swatted Ron away and stood, his joints creaking and his armored body a map of fractures, dents, and pits. Ron flipped several times in the air and landed in a crouch, pounding his fists into the pavement that caused a wave-like ripple that caused Erik to take several steps back to regain his balance. He engaged his rocket thrusters as they unfolded from his back, and began firing blasts of energy down at Ron.

Kim made her way within Shego's reach, blocking her blows with her armored gauntlets. A swift kick from Shego sent Kim reeling, and she slashed across Kim's mostly exposed midriff, causing a skin tight forcefield to shimmer. "Not fast enough, princess!"

"Pay attention and keep up, Shego!" Kim reached back and entrapped Shego's outstretched arm with her own, moving in close and pounding the synthomech's elbow joint with several uppercuts until it fractured and broke. Shego shouted out in agony, and swiped furiously back at Kim with her other arm, leaving deep gashes in her shoulder plating.

Ron dived back and forth between several supports, running higher and higher up each surface until finally leaping out and spinning toward Erik, bringing an axe kick down into the synthomech's still damaged chest. Again, Ron balled up his fists and began pounding away like a gorilla on Erik's frame as they both plummeted back to the street level.

"Ron!" Kim shouted, flipping over Shego's head to run toward him. "Incoming!" Kim leaped high, catching Ron in a tackle before Erik slammed into the ground, causing another shattered crater in the street. She watched her armor's power level dwindle as she held onto Ron, rolling to a stop and looking back to see Shego running toward them with rage burning in her green glowing eyes. She stepped over Erik as he struggled to his feet, and Kim grinned back at her. The silhouette of the Kepler approached like a ghost from behind the pair of synthomechs, with tiny flares erupting around it as it launched it's arsenal of Flurry missiles centered on Erik and Shego.

The projectiles made no noise until they impacted the ground in a fan like pattern, pulverizing the street and stopping just before reaching Kim and Ron's position. Ron sat up as the explosions hit, covering Kim's now unarmored body with his own. Fragments of rubble showered them for nearly a minute, and smoke and dust rushed past before being blown back by the Kepler landing.

* * *

"Kimmie, you're back!" Mrs. Dr. Possible said with tired relief. "Did you...?"

Kim held out the pouch of medicines for her mother to inspect. "Joss really pulled through, Mom. How're the Tweebs doing?"

Mrs. Dr. Possible wiped her cheeks and smiled. "They'll be doing much better now. And so will the rest of us."

As Kim, Ron, and Rufus continued speaking with Kim's mother with Hana in tow, Wade and Joss stood a short distance away. "So how'd you know that girl wasn't going to shoot you the moment you turned your back?" Wade asked.

Joss looked at him and smiled. "I didn't. Guess I was gamblin'"

"You're lucky, you know that, right?"

"Maybe. Maybe all people need to fight Drakken's control is a little hope. Either way, she has her doubts about what Drakken's cause is all about. Things are gonna change soon, Wade. I can feel it."

Wade placed a hand on her shoulder and smiled. "Let's hope it's for the better, then."


	15. Madness Shall Reign

﻿**Madness Shall Reign**

The subway beneath New York City was vast and dark, with trickles of water and vermin constantly running along the tunnels. It was also where Kim's cousin Larry had set up his resistance base, where he and his fellow role players turned resistance fighters planned their attacks against Drakken's forces.

"Why would Drakken test out a new weapon on Olthar's crew?" Ron asked, balancing along one of the subway rails. With the exception of himself, Kim, Wade, and Rufus moved carefully through the tunnel in their battle armor with weapons drawn. "I mean, it's not like he's a major threat."

"That's the problem with only getting a small part of any conversation, Ron." Kim replied in a whisper as she gestured Wade to move forward. They didn't know the nature of the weapon, when it would hit, or why it was going to be used on Larry's team. Maybe there was a reason, maybe it was random. The whole Diablo War brought more and more surprises that Kim never thought Drakken was capable of. Though, she supposed, attitudes can change when your brain is cybernetically linked to an alien computer. "Maybe it's because they're underground. If Drakken's found a weapon to penetrate this deep, we might all be in trouble."

The team of four approached the entrance to Larry's base and Kim held them back a moment. "Ron, Rufus, you two stay here and keep a lookout. Wade and I will go in and scope out the sitch."

"You sure, Kim?" Ron asked with a frown. "If there is some kind of weapon in there..."

"Wade and I can handle it. Stay put." Kim ordered, gesturing Wade onward and following him in.

Ron waited until Kim and Wade were out of earshot before speaking. "I don't get it, Rufus." he said, his eye catching a canteen that had been left on a junction box located on the wall of the tunnel. "Haven't I shown Kim I don't need protecting like I used to?" he asked, taking the canteen and smelling the liquid inside. "Meh, it's not soda, but it'll do."

Rufus turned, popping open the face plate of his robotic body and chittering a string of questions.

Ron shrugged. "I don't know, maybe one of Larry's crew left it here. It's just water." he insisted, taking another drink.

Rufus held his arms out and squeaked a number of questions.

"Well, it was half full." Ron replied with a relieved sigh. Turning the canteen upside down and shaking it, he added. "Of course, that also means it was half empty."

Rufus chittered in irritation at him, placing his forepaws on his hips, which caused his robotic body to do the same.

* * *

Crazed screams echoed through the subway station, accompanied by crying, panicked moans and inhuman growls. There were tables overturned, and bullet holes in several of the concrete pillars, resulting in an eerie feeling that reached deep down into Kim's gut. There was no sign of a synthetic attack. There were no energy burn marks anywhere, and no synthogoo to be found. Just blood in small spatters where it appeared someone had been beaten near to death. "Kim, over here!" Wade shouted, as he approached a shivering man that cowered away from Wade.

"What have you got, Wade?" Kim asked, stepping up beside him.

The cowering man was shaking and whimpering, as though tired of brushing imaginary insects off of his body. "Hard to say, Kim. Every one of them seems pretty helpless. At least the ones that are still alive."

* * *

Lord Drakken watched through the eyes of a commando synthodrone that was designed specifically for stealth. The holographic projection in the center of his throne room showed a sadistically clear image of Kim Possible frowning at her surroundings. "That's right, Kim Possible. Learn and despair." Drakken laughed. "Learn that no matter how hard you fight, I, Lord Drakken, will always be one step ahead and taking away all you've ever cared about. Then despair in the knowledge that you will never be able to..."

"Ah, Drakken. Zore gloating is alvays ze highlight of entertaining." came Dementor's electronic voice. "Vut tell me, iz it ze most wize to be letting ze Fraulein Possible learn ov your Ztyx vaze of ze New World Order?"

"Grah! How do you keep getting in here, Dementor?! Isn't there a trash compactor that needs filling somewhere?" Drakken growled, spinning in his chair to glare at the stout robot.

"I am simply vaiting to carry out ze Lord Drakken's orders." he replied with an obvious patronizing tone in his voice.

"Then go bother Shego! Tell me how that works out." he said with a chuckle, turning back to the holographic projector. "I, after all, am about to watch Kim Possible give up! Muahahahaha!" he said, his laugh echoing out of his throne room as Dementor turned to leave.

* * *

A shadow of movement among the pillars caught Kim's attention and she gestured for Wade to keep quiet with a gloved finger against her lips. Despite her battle armor, Kim moved noiselessly with the grace of a cat toward one of the concrete pillars, leaving her pistol holstered for the time being. As she moved deeper into the subway station, there were more people sitting on the floor crying and scratching at the walls with bloody hands.

"What's going on here?!" Wade blurted out, earning him a glare from Kim a moment before a female form leaped out of the shadows with a scream. She knocked Wade into a group of men that scrambled out of the way in fear and was about to lunge on top of him before Kim gripped his assailant by the shoulder, tossing her away.

The woman charged at Kim again with untrained attacks, but with frightening ferocity. Knocking the woman down with a neat sweep kick, Kim glared at her. "Stay down!" she ordered, but the woman was too crazed to understand. She climbed to her feet again, scrambling to attack Kim.

"Kim!" Wade shouted, and instictively, Kim leaned to the side as a pair of darts zipped by and struck the woman in the arm. Electrical bolts arched over her body as she convulsed a moment before collapsing and Wade climbed to his feet beside Kim. "Neuro charges do a body good." he said with a satisfied smile.

"Yeah. Your body when they're pointed at someone else." Kim agreed.

"Cousin? Is that you?" Larry asked as he stepped out of the shadows of the subway station. "So hard to see. Hard to think." he said, stumbling over his words. Kim had never heard Larry's nasally voice take on a fearful, desperate tone before. She had always found it annoyingly monotone; or at best, excited whenever some geek fest came to his attention.

"Larry! What happened here?" Kim called, grabbing him by the shoulders in an effort to get him to focus.

"Brain thick. So many. All at once. Hard to think. Gone crazy. Like a Mindflayer in your head!" he shouted, gripping Kim's shoulder plating in his hands, hard enough to cut his palms.

"Don't worry, Larry. We'll get you out of here." Kim assured him, turning to speak into her battle armor's radio. "Joss. Make sure the Kepler's ready to go. We need to get Larry and his team to the Passages."

"Roger that." Joss replied, deactivating the Kepler's holographic disguise from the pilot's seat. "Problem, Kim." she continued as the scanning system came online. "You've got a whole herd o' synthodrones comin' yer way!"

"Ron, Rufus; you hear that? Give Wade and I some cover until we can get Larry and his people out." Kim ordered.

"Roger, roger." Rufus replied through the translated radio of his mechanized body.

"Time to make our move, big little buddy." Ron grinned, cracking his knuckles. Rufus gave a thumbs up before closed the faceplate of his armor and he turned to move down the subway tunnel in the opposite direction of Ron. The sound of a hurried march was coming from each end of the tunnel, as synthodrones began filing in, blasting at anything that moved.

Rufus's heads up display began highlighting numerous targets and he adjusted his energy cannon's feed rate for a lower yield, longer stream of fire, using his tiny clawed paws to direct the aim of the hip mounted cannon. He chirped and chittered as his armor was rocked back by a hail of energy, and he returned fire in a strafing motion that cut down the first few lines of synthodrones. But the tunnel continued to fill, and Rufus let out a quiet "Uh oh." before backing down the tunnel.

Ron sped along the subway track, calling upon his monkey powers to shroud himself in shadows, making him invisible even to the synthodrones that were charging in his direction. Running up the curved wall and onto the ceiling, he performed a gravity defying flip as his aura blazed into being, pouring a blue light throughout the tunnel. Stone bricks began to shake and shatter as he passed, and he landed in a tight crouch in the center of the first wave of synthodrones.

The walls of the tunnel exploded from the shockwave like a glass tube, sending shards of stone and metal tearing through the synthetic army that surrounded him. Steam and showers of sparks erupted around him as Ron backflipped out of the explosion to rest in a standing position, admiring his handiwork. "Come on! How do you guys actually expect to beat me?" he grinned.

Within moments though, the rubble that was plugging the tunnel began to shift and shake as a black and purple gloved arm punched through. Synthodrones began breaking through the barricade, firing their rifles as they did. "Good answer..." Ron continued, his grin fading as he dodged and weaved in retreat.

* * *

"Kim, you'd better get here fast! They're swarming the Kepler!" Joss said into the ship's radio. With the Kepler already warmed and ready for a hasty escape, Joss activated her battle suit inside the cockpit of the ship, resulting in a cacaphony of thunder and lightning. Hana closed her eyes and clapped her hands over her ears, sitting in Kim's command chair while she had been playing with a dirty, clothesless, one armed doll that she had found somewhere. Joss drew her pistols and brushed past Hana, flashing her a cocky, if uncertain smile. "Sit tight, kid." Joss opened the entry ramp, taking cover behind the frame of the portal and unleashing blast after blast of energy as synthodrones began to explode.

Hana was unnerved by the combat outside, and continued playing with her broken doll, unbuckling herself from Kim's seat to walk the toy across various surfaces in the cockpit. Wade's sensor console was first, and several buttons activated and lights came on as the doll danced. Then Hana made the doll leap into a series of Kim-like flips over to Rufus's weapon system console beside where Joss was crouched. The little Asian girl giggled as the doll landed and was forced into a set of one handed hand springs, turning on several lights.

Outside, the point defense cannons popped out of their armored housings; two on top and two below, and began selecting targets.

Hana continued playing with her doll, causing the toy to perform a split worthy of the Middleton Cheer squad on the automatic firing button on Rufus's console.

Joss's mouth gaped open as the point defense cannons, which were designed to intercept incoming missiles, begin opening fire with steady beams of laser energy that swept across the crowd like a beam of focused sunlight strafing over an ant colony.

"Joss, is the way clear?" came Kim's voice over her comm unit.

"Uh... Sure. Yep. It's right clear, it is." Joss stammered, cutting the connection and looking back at Hana, who was continuing to play with her broken doll and hum a quiet tune. "I think I'll keep you around, kid."

* * *

Ron could sense Rufus behind him, and could hear the loud whine of his energy cannon filling the tunnel with red fire. Ron himself was batting away bolts of energy that came down the tunnel with his aura enveloped hands, and wavering fluidly and unpredictably as the synthodrones came close. "We've gotta get out of here, Rufus! I think Drakken's whole army is here!"

"Use the door." came Rufus's synthesized voice through the robot body's translator. With the flick of a switch inside his tiny cockpit, Rufus engaged the rail gun that was mounted beneath his energy cannon and aimed into the heart of the crowd before him. A clap of thunder that shook the dust from the tunnel walls reverberated around the pair, and an invisible spear shot through a direct line of synthodrones, popping their husks instantly and throwing all the synthodrones around them back.

Ron was searching frantically for whatever door Rufus was talking about. "What door?!"

"This door." Rufus replied, dropping his energy cannon to swing on his hip and charging through the brick wall that separated the tunnel from the next.

Ron stared wide eyed as his friend plowed through the solid wall. "Way to think like a mole rat, buddy!" Ron said with a grin, diving through the hole behind Rufus. As he rolled to his feet, he leaped again and performed a kick that struck the main support beam of the subway tunnel behind them. The broken wall collapsed in on the horde of synthodrones, squirting goo out through the pile of bricks and dirt.

"Euea!" Ron and Rufus said in disgust before moving to catch up to Kim and Wade.

Another pair of synthodrones fell as Kim came up the stairs to the subway station with Larry and his crew doing their best to follow. Wade let out a surprised yelp from the rear of the group as an energy bolt struck him in the chest and he returned fire. "Joss! Need an extraction at the..."

The Kepler slowed to a stop above them, descending and hovering a meter off the surface of the broken up street. As the cargo bay door slid open, Kim began motioning for Larry and his people to enter. "Everybody in!" Kim shouted. "Rufus! Extraction! Now!" she ordered into her comm system.

A tap on her shoulder pauldrons brought her attention to Ron, who was now standing behind her with a self satisfied smile on his face. "Amp down, KP. We're free and clear."

"Nice work, boys." Kim said, about to return the smile when the sound of rockets flew by over head. "Erik. Come on, we'd better jet." Kim, Ron and Rufus climbed onto the Kepler even as Joss began spinning the ship around for a clear takeoff. Ron picked up Hana, taking her into the passenger compartment as Kim and Rufus deactivated their battle armor and took their seats. "Okay, Joss. Punch it!"

Erik swept toward the Kepler, firing blast after blast of energy as it spun in place. An explosion of air erupted around them as he picked up speed, and he put his hands out in front of him, preparing to tear a hole through the hull of Kim Possible's ship.

But even as he continued to accelerate, the massive central engine began to glow white as a set of rings rotated up to speed and a shimmering field surrounded the Kepler. "Not. This. Time!" He bit out, struggling to catch the ship.

Suddenly, the Kepler seemed to vanish, and large chunks of cement, old cars, and various other debris were lifted from their place and dragged along in the Kepler's wake. Erik spun in a three sixty degree motion, decelerating instantly before striking the concrete ground, and he held his arms up to guard against the sudden cloud of debris, searching for his target. But there was nothing. "Next time."

* * *

Drakken watched in infuriating amazement as Kim Possible escaped his elaborate trap, with his test subjects no less! "Ereagh!" he growled, smashing the arm off of his chair with his mechanical arm as he stood, grabbing at his hair with his other hand. "Shego!"

"Ah, iz zere zomezing that I, PROFESSOR DEMENTOR, could be the helping with, Lord Drakken?" asked the stout robot from the doorway.

"You're not a professor of anything anymore, Dementor! You're just a lackey! And an irritating one at that." Drakken retorted, and for a moment Dementor was silent. "And why are you a lackey? Because you lost our bet as to who would rule the world first. Ha!"

"Yo, Lord D." Shego said as she entered the throne room, skirting around Dementor. She chuckled slightly at her own words, running them through her mind again. "Lordy, Lordy. Ha!"

Drakken glared at her, but only shook his head in annoyance. "I swear Hephaestus brought you two out to punish me." he said quietly. With a wave of his hand, he dismissed Dementor and waited for the door to close behind him. "Now, I need you to go to Base Three Five Nine and guard it. Styx phase of my plan is nearly ready to put into motion and I need to know that Kim Possible won't be interfering."

"Okay , Lord D... What's with the phases of this plan? You care to enlighten me on any of this?" Shego asked, standing impatiently with one hand on her tilted hip. Drakken tilted a eyebrow. As a super powered human, he had always found Shego to be at least moderately attractive. But as a robot whose sole purpose was to serve him... this was better than when he had built the Bebe's.

"It's a matter of redundancy this time, Shego." Drakken explained, clasping his hands behind his back and pacing, focusing on his plans. "If even a single phase of my plan succeeds, what little is left of the resistance will be crushed, Kim Possible included. "Even she can't stop all of..."

"Okay, Sport. I'm going to stop you there, because every time you say something isn't possible, at least one of the Possible clan winds up putting a wrench in your plans."

"Which is why I need you to guard the Styx launching platform. If the Possible girl learns of it's location, she will undoubtedly try to stop it."

"Wasn't the Styx phase part of that kid with the virus?" she asked, inspecting her clawed hands.

"That was simply an experiment with unforeseen, if interesting, developments. The true Styx phase is far more insidious!" Drakken explained, letting out a hearty laugh that echoed through the throne room.

* * *

Kim and her team were working quietly in the Global Justice base control room, the only sound above keys tapping being Hana's humming as she played with a rubber ball, bouncing it against the floor and catching it.

Ba-dump

"Wade, any word from my Mom about what happened to Larry?" Kim asked, looking up from her keyboard for a moment.

Ba-dump

"Not yet. I think she was going to wire it directly to your Dad." Wade replied. "Should have something soon."

Ba-dump

"Good. The last thing we need is whoever's left alive to start killing each other. I guess all we can do is wait."

Ba-dump

"Knock it off!" Ron shouted at Hana, batting the ball away from the girl. There was an unfamiliar anger in his eyes that stopped Hana from moving and caused her lip to quiver slightly.

Breaking the renewed silence in the room, Kim stood up slowly. "Ron, get some rest." she said slowly.

Ron glared back at her. "I'm fine. Just have a headache." he replied, rubbing his temples.

"Good. I'm glad. Now get some rest. It's been a hard couple days and if we need to move in a hurry, I need you to be at your best. Headache-less." Kim said sternly, her voice low and authoritative.

Ron uncharacteristically hesitated, glowering at her. He crossed his arms and turned away, growling out a "Whatever." as he left the room.

"What's his problem?" Wade asked once Ron had left.

"Ain't it obvious?" Joss asked. "The guy hasn't got any..." she trailed off, pumping her arms and thrusting her pelvis back and forth.

"Joss!" Kim shouted, squeezing her eyes shut and rubbing them with a hand. "Do you not see the six year old girl in the room?" she asked through gritted teeth. "Or do you not comprehend that this planet isn't named Not Gonna Happen? Because that seems to be where you're hoping to put up a permanent residence."

After a quiet, tense moment, Hana got up from her seat to run out of the control room as Joss shrunk into her seat, her grin fading into an embarrassed frown. Kim's face was turning a brightening red, and she was about to continue laying into her little cousin when the hologram of Mr. Dr. Possible formed between the remaining team members. "Hey there, Kimmie... Uh, did I interrupt something?"

Kim slowly turned away from Joss to look up at the image of her father. "No, Dad. Just getting a little stir crazy here. What have you got?"

"Well, your mother took some blood samples of your cousin Larry. Apparently, they all ingested a potent hallucinagen that causes a temporary insanity. Side effects include violent, irrational behavior; hallucinations; and megalomania."

"All tell tale traits of a typical villain. Source?" Kim asked.

"Most likely the water supply. It seems that this new weapon of Drakken's is in missile form and he intends to launch it into the North American water table. If successful, it'll infect the entire continent."

"Aw man..." Rufus said, slapping a paw against his face. "Ron drank from a canteen he found in the tunnel." came the translation after a series of squeaks and chirps.

"We so don't need this." Kim said. "Okay, Joss and Rufus; you two check on Ron. Make sure he's okay. And use your battle suits, just in case. Wade, work with Dad to cross reference this toxin with what we know about Drakken's plans already."

"What are you gonna do, Kim?" Wade asked as Joss and Rufus left without a word.

Kim sighed. "Seeing as I'm the only registered babysitter, I'm going to try to find Hana." she said, thinking. "In an area the equivilant of an empty high rise apartment complex filled with state of the art security measures. Dad, the moment you're done sifting through Drakken's info, do a base wide search for Hana."

"Will do, Kimmie-cub."

* * *

Joss was unusually quiet as she and Rufus walked toward Ron's room. Having Kim actually blow up like that at her had cut deep, and she had come to realize how much she had let her gaurd down around her teammates since they had begun fighting back against Drakken. A sense of comraderie had developed over time, and now despite Kim's insistence that she didn't want to lose anyone else she was close to, she seemed to be pushing more people away.

Rufus bumped her arm and she brought her attention back to the situation at hand. They could hear a quiet chuckling in the room that Ron and Rufus shared, and Joss stepped forward in her battlesuit with Rufus's hulking robotic body following after. "Ron?" joss asked hesitantly, unsure what an insane or berserk Ron Stoppable might be capable of. "You okay?"

The black clad figure was nothing more than a shadowy blur that knocked Rufus's hip mounted energy cannon out of the way and knocked the titanic robot back against the wall in a shower of sparks. Joss moved for one of her pistols, but didn't even clear it before Ron's boot struck her midsection, throwing her sliding down the hall unconscious.

Ron stepped over Joss's body, his eyes dark and angry. In a higher pitch than usual voice, he said, "Soon, this GJ base will be mine! From it, I will take over the world and return the Naco to it's former glory! BooYa-ah-ha-ha-ha-ha-Hah!"

* * *

Kim felt a cold chill run down her spine, and the evil laughter caused the hair on her neck to rise. "Not again..." she whispered to herself, turning and running towards Ron's room. She had yet to find Hana, but the girl had managed to evade Hundreds of Drakken's troops and Monkey Fist for nearly a month on her own. For now, Ron was a greater concern.

As she rounded the corner, she saw Joss lying on the floor in her battlesuit, unconscious but breathing. In front of Ron's open bedroom door, Rufus was struggling to get his mechanized body to stand. "Joss, wake up." Kim said, lightly slapping her little cousin across the helmet and shaking her.

"Uh?"

"Joss, what happened?"

"Ron. Didn't even give us a chance."

"Where is he?" Kim asked, looking down each length of hallway.

"I reckon he's still in the base somewheres. Good news is, he weren't glowin'" Joss said, climbing to her feet.

"Bad news, Kim!" Wade's voice was coming from the Kimmunicator, and she dug it out of her pocket.

"So not what I needed to hear, Wade." she replied with a glare.

"Sorry, Kim. But this weapon is the Styx phase of Project New World Order. I guess some of those barrels we found in Sanctuary and that abandoned base of Drakken's got shipped out before we got there. We've got the launch source, but the timeline is one hour." Wade explained.

"Great." Kim grimaced. "Okay, someone's going to have to destroy that base before it launches..."

"Aye!" Joss, Rudus, and Wade all said in unison, lifting their hands to volunteer.

"Which leaves me to take care of Ron. Wonderful." she continued sarcastically. "Okay. Joss, prep the Kepler. Rufus, take what you need. Wade, meet them there and start working on a plan."

As Joss and Rufus began moving toward the hangar, Kim activated her battle armor and waited a moment for the cybertronic marvel to take it's form fitted shape around her body. As the effect of thunder and lightning subsided, Wade spoke up through the Kimmunicator. "What are you gonna do?"

"First off, I'll have to find Hana before Ron does. With any luck, we can wait him out until this drug runs it's course."

"I don't know, Kim. Seemed like Larry's crew had been like that for awhile. If it's anything like the other bio weapon..."

"Two weeks. I know. Good luck shutting it down, Wade. I've gotta stop my best friend." Kim said, closing the connection. "Well Ron, I'm coming for you. Don't make me get rough."

Suddenly, the lights dimmed and the base's intercom system crackled to life, playing Bach's Toccata and Fugue in C Minor, creating a classic haunted house feel.

"Great."

* * *

It had only been fifteen minutes since Kim had heard the Kepler take off, and she had been going deeper into the base in search of Hana. The haunting organ music had been continuing on a steady loop, and was beginning to grate on her nerves. "Hana!" she called, trying to listen for the girl's response.

The music suddenly dulled, and Ron's evil, high pitched voice rang out. "So, Kimberly-Anne Possible! We meet again! Wauha! Wah-ha-ha-ha-ah-ha!"

"Knock it off, Ron." Kim replied in annoyance. "What do you want?"

"Hmm." came the exaggerated reply. "I think we both know what I want, right?"

Kim let out a bored sigh and folded her arms. "Nacos?"

A cacophony of evil laughter shook the halls of the base, and Kim nearly had to cover her ears. "Ultimately, yes! But first there are some obstacles, aren't there? Yes, there are!"

Kim slid her Kimmunicator out of her pocket and turned it on. "Dad? You there?" she whispered.

Instead of seeing her father though, Ron's darkened face showed on the screen and laughed. "Looks like someone's having letting go issues! Ah-boo-yah-ha-ah-ha-ha!"

"Ron!" Kim shouted, sniffing back tears that were threatening to show. "Bring back my Dad, or so help me..."

"Help you what, hmm?! Find the girl? But I am! For while you've been standing still, I am already two levels below you!" he laughed, and Kim cut the connection, breaking into a full run toward the nearest elevator.

* * *

Wade, and Rufus stood beside a skyscooter a few miles away from the Styx launch site. It was a typical Buenos Nachos repeater station with layers upon layers of armor and defense positions guarding it like a fortress. "So why don't we just blow up the entire structure?" Rufus asked as the pair studied the building.

"Because chances are that the launch sequence has already started and if there are no computers to shut down, they'll launch no matter what." Wade explained. "The missiles themselves are probably underground somewhere."

"You boys all cowboy'd up?" Joss asked, her voice coming over both Wade's and Rufus's comm system.

"As we'll ever be." Wade responded. "This is not one of your better ideas." he continued, climbing onto the skyscooter with Rufus clambering on behind him.

The Kepler flew by over head with it's missile racks protruding, causing a loud whistling as the air glided around the warheads. The rockets launched, causing a dozen white smoke trails that lead into the large armored bunker. The explosion tore apart the entryway, throwing synthodrones throughout the lobby and filling the entire building with debris and smoke.

Synthodrones began pouring out of the building, searching for targets. As they turned to fire their rifles at the Kepler on it's way away from the bunker, Wade flew the sky scooter low toward the front door with Rufus firing his energy cannon and cutting down the synthodrones from behind.

Holding onto the skyscooter's steering mechanism with one hand, Wade drew his pistol and took aim at individual synthodrones that weren't cut down by Rufus's automatic fire. He slid the skyscooter past the breached doorway and spun the hovering bike around in a sudden stop before diving to the side, narrowly dodging another blast.

Rufus stepped off of the bike as well, moving methodically toward the door of the bunker as Wade guarded his back. A number of explosions erupted from the top of the building and the Kepler flew low overhead again, drawing a significantly reduced amount of defensive fire that Joss seemed to be dodging easily. "Remember boys, it won't take long for reinforcements to get here, so don't take too long!"

"We hear ya, Joss."

* * *

A stone door slowly slid aside as Ron activated it's control and peeked outside. The wind here was howling and cold, but he grinned despite the bitterness that instantly hugged his cheeks. Afterall, what was cold when his goal was so close to within reach?

The faint sound of scuffling feet caught his attention and he straightened his posture in a show of confidence. "Well now, little one. How did I know that you'd instantly come to hide outside, rather than the depths of the base where I sent poor Kimberly-Anne?" he asked, slowly stepping out onto the stone balcony. From the outside, the balcony and doorway looked like a completely natural formation, and the granite doorway deflected all but the most intensive scans. "Perhaps it reminds you of Mount Yamanouchi?" he asked, laughing maniacally.

"Go away!" came a young, frightened voice from around a rocky formation past the balcony.

"Heh hah!" Ron chuckled, creeping closer. "I will need an evil sidekick, Han! You think you're so sneaky with your ninja powers, but I have already become the Monkey Master! I'm UNSTOPPABLE! BOO-YAH-AH-AH-HAH-AH-HA!" he laughed, throwing his arms into the night air as he sprung around the corner to find Hana standing defiant against the rock wall. "Boo!"

Suddenly, a heavy, navy blue metal boot swung across his cheek, sending him spinning and diving over the rock balcony. He was barely able to catch himself with one hand, and he shook his head. "Ow..."

"Hana!" Kim shouted, reaching out her hand to the girl, who didn't hesitate to take it. "Get inside!" she ordered, leading Hana back into the base through the doorway that Ron had used. If she had to lock Ron outside until this drug ran it's course, then so be it. She slapped the door's control with an open hand as she passed by, and drew her pistol as she turned to face the door and see it stop with less than a foot before fully closing. A large rock had been slid into place at the base of the door, and was beginning to fracture as the heavy granite slab strained to close. Kim fired a shot, incinerating the blockage instantly and the door slammed shut.

Hana began pulling on her other arm. "Let's go!" she cried, urging Kim to follow.

"Wait..." Kim whispered to herself. Her heads up display suddenly blurted out a warning of fast movement and she ducked Ron's first swing, then brought her forearm up to block a kick before rolling away. "Hana, run!"

Ron grinned, allowing Hana to escape. "I'm surprised, Kimberly-Anne! How did you know I would be here?" he cackled, spreading his arms out in a predatory gesture as he circled her.

"Easy." Kim said, watching him closely. "I know Ron, and how much he cares for that little girl. Even more than Nacos. I also know that being in a dark underground bunker isn't where Hana would feel safest."

"Ha ha! Clever girl!" Ron laughed. "What you have failed to realize is that I've already set the base's self destruct, which you could have stopped if you had continued on your way! Wuah-ha-ah-hah-hah-ah-ah!"

With a twitch of her eye behind her reticle, Kim sifted through the base's status and discovered that Ron wasn't lying. The vocal warning had been disabled, but the base computer was counting down with barely over a minute before the mountain that the GJ base was embedded in would invert into a crater. "But you'll be killed too!"

"I think not! Boo-Yah! AH-HAH-HA-AH-HA!" he belted out, and Kim was certain his voice should be cracking soon. "For I am a villain, and you have too much invested here, don't you?" he rasped, beginning to count on his fingers. "There's daddy dearest, and little Pandaroo! And where would your hormonal little cousin come home to?!" he asked, making a pouty face. "Or do they matter?"

"Of course they matter!" Kim insisted, her temper growing.

"Well then what are you waiting for? You've only got thirty seconds left!" he laughed. Kim glared, but ran past him toward the control room.

* * *

Rufus lead the way through the front door of the converted Buenos Nachos building, using high yield blasts to cut down defending synthodrones as the approached. As they reached the next armored door that would lead to the central computer control console, Wade turned to Rufus. "Go through the synthodrone storage room and come in the back, I'll draw their attention from here." With a nod, Rufus plodded away, moving down the hall where more energy fire was emanating from.

Wade activated the holographic disguise in his battlesuit, covering the armor in a black and blue plating that was indistinguishable from Erik. Straightening his posture, he touched the control to enter the room as arrogantly as he could manage. A plump woman stood at the launch controls, and she looked up with tiny eyes that seemed harmless. Despite the tight uniform that all of Drakken's human slaves wore, Wade recognized Amy Hall, better known as DNAmy, instantly. For a moment, Wade nearly choked, but quickly regained his composure. "My Father commands that this operation come to a stop!"

"Oh, really?" Shego said, standing from her relaxed posture in the corner of the room that had been out of Wade's field of view. "And what authority does he have here, nerd-linger?" Shego glared darkly at the holographic image of Erik, her enhanced synthomech vision cutting away the disguise easily to reveal Kim Possible's technically inclined teammate in his Centurion battle armor. Before he could clear his pistol, Shego clenched a fist and a burst of green and black fire lashed out, striking Wade and throwing him back against the door. As the disguise faded, Shego stepped forward with an arrogant smirk on her metallic lips. "Where's Possible? And I don't mean the little mouthy one with the turned up beak."

Wade lifted his head and shook it in an attempt to clear the stars buzzing around him. "She's kinda busy." he coughed out.

"Too busy to save the world? What, she got a new boyfriend or something?" she laughed.

"Uh..."

"Look, whatever!" Shego said, holding up her hands. "I..."

Suddenly, the door behind her exploded inward as Rufus's mechanized body came charging through, his energy cannon blazing. Amy ducked beneath the computer console as the stream of energy strafed over her head. The blast washed over Shego and she performed a backflip that landed her behind Rufus. Despite the probable tonnage of the robotic body, Shego lifted Rufus over her head and tossed him forward at Wade, who narrowly moved out of the way. Rufus screamed as he sailed across the room, causing a massive tear in the door.

Wade took aim at Shego and she became a blur, blocking several shots with one flaming hand and she returned fire with the other, throwing off Wade's shots. Rufus struggled to his feet, firing a number of high powered pulses as he advanced toward her.

Shego shrugged off a number of shots before turning her attention away from Wade. "Okay rodent, let's see if we can find that cream filling!" She spread her claw-like fingers and grinned, dodging each of Rufus's attacks as she leaped toward him, raking her flaming hands across his chest several times in a shower of green sparks.

Rufus attempted to block the attacks, but his battle armor proved too slow and as each five fingered slash tore large gashes in his armored body, alarms and sirens were blaring in the cockpit. Rufus pushed buttons and pulled levers, using each paw to reconnect redundant systems and extinguish fires that were beginning to wreck havoc throughout his armor as Shego laid into her attacks.

Wade stood, waving his pistol at Amy for her to leave as Rufus's battle suit continued to be severely punished by Shego's strikes. "I'll just be going now, I think." Amy said, crawling away. Wade holstered his pistol, and he looked down at the missile control console in front of him. Both the abort, and self destruct systems were battered beyond repair with large pieces of metal sticking out of them and sparks erupting from the consoles themselves. He looked up to see the timer hit five seconds, and he searched his mind for any last tricks.

"Five seconds to launch." the deep computer voice said, and Rufus turned, allowing Shego's last attack to tear through the fusion generator that was mounted on the back of his armor. With a flicker of dying light, the battle armor deactivated, dropping Rufus into Wade's gloved hands as he ran by.

Shego laughed as Wade sped by, running like Ron used to out of the base. "You're giving up?!" she laughed.

"Four seconds..."

Rufus chittered angrily at him, pointing back to the inside of the building in an effort to continue fighting Shego.

"Three seconds..."

"Joss, I hope you're with us!" Wade shouted into his comm system, ignoring Rufus's arguments.

"Two seconds..."

"Not so fast, poin-Dexter." Shego said as she flipped and twisted over Wade's head to land in front of him. "You're gonna take me to..."

"One second..."

Shego's demands were cut short as the Kepler listed silently a meter off of the ground, knocking her aside with an engine pylon. Wade and Rufus blinked as the hull of the Kepler passed close enough to touch and the ship rose several feet to allow access to the entry ramp. "You boys need a ride?" Joss asked.

"Styx Phase launching..."

Wade dived into the Kepler as the entry ramp began to close, and smoke billowed out of the converted Buenos Nachos building. Nearby, as the Kepler began to gain speed, accelerating from the imploding bunker, the hidden missile silo that housed the Styx missiles exploded, it's launch tunnel still securely locked shut. The desert sands that surrounded the tunnel began to collapse, filling in the deep shaft where the missiles were kept with rock and metal.

* * *

Kim slid into the control room as the timer on the base's self destruct reached ten seconds. "Command KP, Code Director Blue Fox, Action Abort!" she shouted as she tossed one of the console chairs out of her way.

"Action unrecognized. Code required must be equal to or greater than activation code to proceed." the computer told her.

As she cursed loudly cursed Will Du for giving Ron a higher rank than herself out of spite, she plunged her armored fist into the console and tore out the network card that connected the controls to the main computer in the hope that it would stop sending the signal. When she looked back up, the timer already read zero. "What?"

"Hmm! Seems our dear Kimberly-Anne has gotten a little rusty!" Ron said from behind her, leaning against the doorway that lead into the control room. "Too many distractions for our hero maybe? Too many things left unsaid and undone?! Wah-ah-ha-ah-hah!" he laughed, taking a few steps toward Kim. "It's a good thing I've already used the self destruct mechanism in my Invictus machine downstairs! Otherwise you would have just made the world not worth conquering!"

"Invictus machine?" Kim asked in confusion. "Not worth conquering?"

"What good is ruling the world if you don't have someone to share it with?" he cackled, moving closer. He held up a vial of red fluid to the light in the control room and it shined a sickly red glow across his face. "This synthesized version of Phase Styx is a hundred percent permanent. Join me and we will rid the world of Drakken and live on a bed of Nacos! BOO-YAH-HAH-AH-HA-AH-HAH!" he laughed, tossing the vial into the air and catching it again.

"Eww." Kim whispered at the thought of a Naco bed, then shook the thought away to concentrate. Acting instinctively, she strode forward as quickly as her battlesuit would carry her and spun in a round house kick that would knock the vial from Ron's hand. But he pulled it away at the last moment, blocking her strikes one handed as she followed through with her attacks.

"You think you can defeat me?!" he taunted. "You can't even figure out Drakken's obvious plan, and I'm just getting warmed up!" he laughed, holding the vial out of her reach.

Kim lunged for the vial, stretching and leaning into him in an attempt to get it away from him, or break it before he could use it somehow. Her fingers could only reach his wrist though and she turned her face to his. With a wicked grin, he locked his lips over hers and Kim's eyes widened a moment before she felt his hands on her bare midriff and his hot, sweet breath mix with hers. She tried to push him away weakly, but without the will behind her muscles, her myonetic components wouldn't engage.

Her battle armor felt suddenly hot and confining, and she trembled in a sudden sweat that made her blueprint suit feel sticky and tight. The last time she had kissed anyone like this was under the influence of the moodulator six years ago, and even then it had been Ron. She felt a twinge of pain as Ron nibbled her bottom lip and her eyes popped open as he began to push her toward the computer console. "I'm sorry..." she whispered, and gathered her strength to bring up her knee forcefully.

Ron gasped in surprise as he doubled over and Kim brought her knee up again to collide with his forehead, the myonetic enhancements knocking him unconscious instantly.

Kim caught the vial of blood and leaned back against the console, catching her breath and tasting Ron's left over saliva on her lips that still covered her cherry lipstick. "I am so, so sorry." she said, looking down at Ron through the red vial.

* * *

"No, no, no!" Drakken shouted, watching the events around his Styx project unfold. "Nooooo!" he cried as the silo erupted in a cloud of smoke, debris, and fire before it was all sucked into the resulting crater.

"Ah, could it be zat ze Lord Drakken had yet anozzer phase uv hiz plan vail?" Dementor asked, his synthesized voice leaving no room for doubt that he was mocking Drakken.

Drakken growled at him, slamming his mechanical fist down on the arm of his chair before standing and striding over to the stocky, black, red, and yellow robot. "Do you want to run this Empire?!"

"Why yez, I am of the vanting." Dementor said without hesitation.

"Rrrr!" Drakken growled, turning away. "Well you can't!"

"Verhaps Hephaestus should be of the finding of a new vigurehead, no?" Dementor asked as he stepped out of the door of the throne room before Drakken could reply.

* * *

"Did you have to give him a concussion?" Joss asked as she stepped up next to Kim, Wade, and Rufus, who was curled up around Kim's neck, snoozing.

"It was the heat of the moment, alright?" Kim answered defensively. "I didn't have a lot of options for knocking him out."

"Okay, okay." Joss replied, clearly not willing to get yelled at by her older cousin again. "At least we had minimum damage done to the base, other than one of the control room consoles." Joss added, then when no one replied, she turned her attention to the contraption that stood before them. "So... what do you make of it, Wade?"

The three of them stared at Ron's Invictus machine. Housed in the lower levels of the Global Justice base, the object was nearly two stories tall, with cables ran haphazardly throughout it's structure. Two antennae protruded at an odd angle from the top of the machine, and a single lever, button combination was mounted at the machine's base, presumably to activate it. "It could take control of the Diablos, or turn rain into cheese for all I know. I'm almost afraid to study it." Wade said absently. "What I do know, is that we're going to show up like a beacon if we switch it on. It's hooked up to draw almost all of the power from our generators."

"Ron called it his Invictus machine. It's Latin for Unconquerable, or unvanguishable." Kim added.

"How do you know that?" Joss asked, clearly surprised.

"Latin class." Kim smiled.

* * *

Ron woke up with a splitting headache, and a painful throbbing throughout his midsection. He coughed a few times, looking around the infirmary for a complimentary glass of water. He licked his lips in thirst, then widened his eyes in surprise. "Cherries?"


	16. To Err Is Human

** To Err is Human**

Drakken slouched in his command chair, his chin resting in his gloved hand as he frowned at the holographic display of the Styx phase of his New World Order exploding and Kim Possible's transport craft rocketing away.

Erik stood at attention to his left, watching intently as the scene faded into an image of Kim Possible's ship sitting in the center of conjoining bolts of lightning that buzzed and sparked while Erik and the buffoon grappled on the hull.

Shego stood to Drakken's right, inspecting her claws and paying no attention to the display that showed her in an underground complex, chasing Kim Possible until she came to a large armored suit that exploded, sending the image into static.

Drakken covered his face with his hand in frustration. "Can either of you tell me why two indestructible, synthetic mechanical warlords can't take care of one human girl?!" he shouted. "Or worse, her team of buffoonish sidekicks?!"

"Maybe if she didn't have that Centurion Battle Armor, she'd be gone already!" Shego retorted, not taking her eyes off of a particularly sharpened metal claw. "How'd she wind up getting that tech again anyway?"

"Who cares?!" Drakken lamented, standing suddenly and pacing. "You two are supposed to be the most technologically advanced beings on the planet and you have both consistently failed. I took over the world, you'd think that would have been the hard part!"

A subtle cough at the doorway turned their heads toward Monkey Fist, who was standing stock still with his arms behind his back. Despite the uniform that Drakken forced all of his human servants to wear, and the compliance chip that caused them to obey Drakken's every command, Monkey Fist still portrayed an air of British civility. "Perhaps using such technological automatons is what is holding you back, Lord Drakken." he said calmly, passing an arrogant smirk at Erik.

"And what do you suggest?" Drakken asked, spinning fast enough for his cape to billow around him. "Your monkey ninjas have dispersed with the loss of your imaginary powers! Not that they were any more effective than my old henchmen."

Monkey Fist frowned slightly, remembering the feeling of mentoring the clan of monkey ninjas that used to dwell within his mansion, the descendants of the exiled Toshimiru clan. "Texts referred to a being so powerful as to be completely impervious to all forms of damage, turn living tissue to stone, and tear the very Earth asunder in storms of lightning and Earthquakes!" he exclaimed, clutching his hands together and wearing a maniacal grin.

Drakken, Shego, and Erik looked at him quizzically before replying. "And why didn't you call upon this being before?" Drakken asked, unconvinced.

Monkey Fist regained his composure before clearing his throat. "Because like any super weapon, it must be used as a last resort. A being so powerful would conceivably cause so much collateral damage as to make the world unlivable for living creatures." he explained with an arrogant sniff. "Seeing as how you've managed that all by yourself, it seems prudent to assume the time has come to summon this being forth."

"And I imagine that you're the only one that could conjure this thing?" Drakken asked in a bored tone.

"Of course." Monkey Fist stated. "But with your compliance chip attached securely to the base of my skull, what worry could you have of me turning against you?"

"True." Drakken grinned. "Very well, go do whatever you need to to bring this thing into my service and destroy Kim Possible!" he laughed. "Erik, go with him. See that this creature doesn't get out of hand."

Erik nodded, flashing Monkey Fist a glare as the man's grin faded. "Of course, Father. I don't doubt that this entity is nothing but a fool's figment of imagination, but I will do as you wish."

"We will have to journey to Ethiopia, then; into the Simian Mountains. That is where the Destroyer resides." Monkey Fist said, and Erik brandished his digitization ray with a grin. "Preferably in a more conventional style of transport."

* * *

"So you don't remember anything?" Kim asked Ron suspiciously, taking a sip of coffee. It was a few days after Ron had regained consciousness, and he still had a patch of gauss covering the lump on his head.

Ron was drawing invisible shapes on the computer desk with his finger, trying not to appear uncomfortable. "It's all kinda fuzzy." he said, frowning. "I remember getting angry at Hana." The little Japanese girl looked up from her bowl of sweetened protein cereal and gave an uncertain smile. She had avoided Ron for the most part, instead appearing without warning around Kim throughout the days. "But then only flashes."

"Nothing about what you were planning, though?" Wade asked from the other side of the control room. "Anything that would give a clue as to what the Invictus machine does would help."

Ron shrugged. "It wasn't me, though! I wouldn't have done any of those things!"

Joss sighed as she poured herself another cup of coffee. Unlike the others, she had slept late and was still in a set of thin, curve bearing pajamas. "What about you, Kim? Any more details?" she asked. "Did he do or say anything... y'know, weird?"

Kim couldn't help but stare at Ron, remembering the moments before she had knocked him unconscious.

With a wicked grin, Ron locked his lips over hers and Kim's eyes widened a moment before she felt his hands on her bare midriff and his hot, sweet breath mix with hers. She tried to push him away weakly, but without the will behind her muscles, her myonetic components wouldn't engage.

Kim cleared her throat and squirmed in her chair, tearing her eyes away from Ron in order to respond. "Uh, uhm, er, no. Nothing." she said, then lifted her head. "Wait. When he didn't know I was there, he was talking about Hana having super ninja abilities. Oh, and that he knew she'd be outside because it would remind her..." Kim said hurriedly, slowly turning to look at Hana. "Of Yamanouchi."

"Yamanouchi?!" Ron exclaimed, sitting up suddenly. "But how would she... How did I... I mean, if she's from Yamanouchi, why wouldn't she have been with Yori?! And gone to Eden Two?"

"Home?" Hana asked, suddenly speaking up.

"What? Eden? No, it's some place we haven't found yet." Ron began to explain, but Kim stopped him.

"I think she means Yamanouchi, Ron." Kim said. The girl nodded.

"But how would I know that when I don't know that?" Ron asked, sounding more confused himself.

"I reckon it's like the Nacos, Ron." Joss said, sipping the last of her coffee. "This evil side o' yours just seems to want everythin' you do, but is just willin' to do anythang to get it. Maybe you reckoned that Hana was from the mountain, but didn't know you knew."

"Wha?"

"What Joss is trying to say is that your subconscious knowledge and desires came out when you turned evil." Wade suggested.

"I do want me some Nacos." Ron proclaimed with a smile and a lick of his lips. "And cherries." he added, suddenly confused. "No idea why I said that, but I really wish I could remember!"

Kim sighed with a frown. "Me too, Ron."

* * *

The transport jet that carried Monkey Fist and a century of synthodrones was a sleek, scaled up version of Drakken's personal skiff that he had used before becoming world ruler. A shiny dark blue and fully enclosed, the transport had an oval shape and three large rockets to propel it through the skies. There were many such transports in Drakken's arsenal, used to ferry synthodrones quickly from place to place to crush minor instances of rebellion that weren't worth Erik or Shego's time.

Monkey Fist sat in the command cabin as synthodrones piloted the transport. His legs were crossed and his eyes were closed, his hands resting calmly on his knees as he breathed deeply and focused on the compliance chip that threatened to control his thoughts and personal ambitions.

The offending piece of technology continued to do it's duty as normal, but over the last several months since being defeated at the hands of Kim Possible, and then digitized by Erik, he had meditated on regaining control of his thoughts through mental discipline. He struggled to raise mental barriers around the chip's influence, isolating it slowly into a dark corner of his personality that the world had used to know as Lord Montgomery Fiske. It was a persona he no longer had any use for, and was only too glad to allow the compliance chip free reign over his old life. There, it would act normally and not alert Drakken to his new found freedom.

The meditation brought forth memories of Monkey Fist's past. Of how he had stood upon the battlements of his castle when the millions of Diablos had rocketed across the sky. He remembered looking up in awe and disappointment at the scene, then only moments later felt his Mystical Monkey Power torn forcibly away in a mist of yellow light. For quite some time, he had lain there as the rain pattered against his face. It was then that he had realized that the Stoppable boy had somehow commanded it all to himself out of sheer force of will.

The rage he felt for Ron Stoppable shook Monkey Fist from his meditation. "Bother." he said under his breath. While he hadn't completely conquered his will over the compliance chip, he knew he was close.

"Nearing destination, sir." one of the synthodrones said in it's deep synthesized voice, and Monkey Fist nodded.

"Good. Notify Erik and drop us to ground level so that we can proceed." he ordered. The automaton gave a curt affirmative and the transport began descending beneath the darkened clouds and amongst the snow capped mountains of Japan. Monkey Fist could barely contain his anxiousness at releasing this being and having it under his control. The fact that he would be able to test this being's power against one of Drakken's presumably unstoppable warlords was just an added bonus.

* * *

Ron rolled around in his bed. The room was uncharacteristically hot tonight, and he was restless enough that Rufus had left to find another room to sleep in. "Must be nice." Ron grumbled. "Be small enough to use a shoe for a bed and naked enough to keep cool." He turned over again in frustration, tossing off most of his blankets except for a thin sheet. For several minutes, he laid in bed with a heavy sweat covering him and soaking his matress before he unbuttoned his pajama shirt and tossed it across the room in a ball.

A shrill laugh echoed through his mind, the only thing he could manage to remember from his drug induced villainy. He knew he had come close to hurting Hana, and had done something to make Kim uncomfortable around him, but every time he tried to recall the events, the throbbing lump on his forehead began to painfully remind him of why he couldn't remember anything in the first place.

Kim had been vague as to why she had to strike him so hard when he had attacked her, and he could only conclude that she was trying to save him the pain of knowing. Many times over the last few years he had woken up from dreams about Kim that would even make Joss blush, and he hoped that his evil self hadn't acted on those impulses. He had come to accept that their friendship was too valuable to risk, and that Kim would find her proverbial soul mate once this Drakken issue was over.

He turned from one side to the other, the heat in the room seemingly increasing. In hopes that there wouldn't be an emergency call in the middle of the night, Ron shed his pajama bottoms and boxer shorts as well in an effort to stay cooler, grumbling as he did. The last few nights had been filled with nightmares of evil deeds; remnants of the drug wearing off, Joss had said. Harmless.

Except for the fact that he was afraid to sleep, in order to keep the dreams at bay. The first time he had been turned evil, through the use of Hench Co's Attitudinator, the aftereffects had been relatively minor. While the Sonic Annihilator and Mega Weather Generator threatened the world, he had never attacked anyone specifically. Not even Kim, who had waved the incident away as he just hadn't been himself.

Ron blinked at the digital clock next to his bed and blew out an exasperated breath. He longed for the days of going to High School again. As strange as it felt to admit it, he would trade all of his Monkey Powers for extra homework and for Prom Night to go differently. If he had just insisted on going with Kim that night, or if that Diablo hadn't come to destroy them, maybe he could've told Kim how he felt.

"Stoppable-San."

The deep, elegant voice suddenly chilled his skin and sent him curling up into the fetal position under his remaining sheet. "Ghosts now too?! What did I do to deserve this?!"

"Stoppable-San, you must return to the Yamanouchi School."

Ron popped his head out from under his sheet slightly to see a glowing translucent form of the Yamanouchi Sensei hovering cross legged in the middle of his room. "Sensei?"

"There is a great evil returning to the world, Stoppable-San."

"Wait, what hap... I mean, I thought you were..."

"You must return to the Yamanouchi School, Stoppable-San. The creature that destroyed the school has returned with Monkey Fist to unleash the Yono."

"What's a Yono?" Ron asked, more confused than ever. But the image of Sensei vanished before him, plunging him into darkness once again, save for the light from his clock. He looked around his darkened room, uncertain as to whether he had just dreamed the whole encounter or if Sensei had actually just appeared to him. "Either way, I've gotta tell Kim." he said to himself, wiping the sweat from his face with a hand.

* * *

"Kim!" Ron shouted, opening the door to her room and barging in.

"Ron?" Kim asked, shielding her eyes from the light of the hall and sitting up in her bed. "It's the middle of the night..." she complained. As her eyes adjusted to the new light and Ron sat on her bed, she blushed, adding, "... and you're naked."

"Kim, I just saw Sensei! He said Erik and Monkey Fist are going to Yamanouchi to raise something called a Yono and..."

"None of that explains why you're naked and sweaty in my room."

"... That this Yono thing is so evil it can't be allowed to be freed!"

"Okay, Ron..." Kim said, getting his attention as best she could while keeping her own attention focused on his brown eyes. "You need to put some pants on, and then start from the beginning."

* * *

Joss yawned, pouring herself another cup of coffee as Ron continued explaining his vision throughout the night. Even despite having grown up on her Father's working ranch, she never did take kindly to being woken up before five o'clock in the morning. Her hair was in dissarray and falling into her eyes, and her pajamas were twisted and wedged into places they shouldn't be. It hadn't helped that the weapons discharge alarm went off shortly after the emergency alarm did, centered on her room.

Wade looked as though he had still been awake, probably working on discovering the purpose of the Invictus Machine. Rufus was snoring soundly, cradled in a snoozing Hana's arms, and if Ron hadn't been covered in sweat and dressed in a pair of Kim's too small sweat pants, Joss would probably have lost interest and dozed off too.

Kim, of course, looked perfect in her pressed, mid riff baring Global Justice uniform. Despite not having her hair braided, which Ron had begun doing for her several years ago before bed, her face was clean and her eyes were awake and alert; a side effect of being a crimefighter as a teenager, she was able to get ready and look good by time she performed a hand spring to get out of bed.

"This doesn't sound like Drakken at all." Wade said with a shake of his head. "He's a roboticist, not a mystic."

"No, but Monkey Fist is. He's always using magic to conjure up some kind of monkey king or ghost or whatever." Ron said, defending his theory.

"But Monkey Fist is under Drakken's control. Why would he allow him to conjure something that could presumably defeat Drakken himself?" Kim added, unconvinced.

"Easy." Joss said with another yawn. "Monkey Fist is there to conjure said critter. Erik is there to make sure it dies when it shows up, just in case it is a threat." The control room was silent for a moment before she opened an eye. "What?" she asked when she noticed all eyes were on her.

"If that's really the case, then we don't really have to do anything, do we?" Wade asked.

Ron's face fell in disappointment. "But Sensei said..."

Kim was sitting quietly, so Joss decided to break the news to him for her. "Ron, the plan is self foilin'. There ain't no one in danger or needs savin', and the students of Yamanouchi are already safe in Eden Two. As fun as it'd be to tear Erik apart just to see'im put himself back together, there ain't no reason to waste the resources." she said, her eyes still closed. "Right, Kim?"

"Suit up, people." Kim ordered. "We're going."

Joss's eyes shot open. "Kim!"

"Boo-Yah!" Ron's face brightened and a thankful smile spread across his face. He lifted Hana and Rufus into his arms and stumbled toward the command room exit in order to get to his room.

Wade yawned, standing up from his chair stiffly. "Guess I'd better put together some energy juice. This is gonna be a long night." he stated, following Ron out the door.

Kim and Joss sat glaring at each other a few moments before Kim rolled her eyes. "What?"

"What happened to professional unattachment?" Joss asked suspiciously.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Kim shot back.

"You're sweet on him. Why else would you still be allowing Hana to stay here and why are we going on this stupid mission?"

"I am not getting 'sweet' on Ron! Mom said Hana would be safer here, so she's here. We're going on this mission because I trust Ron. I trust him because he's my best friend. That's all. Plus, maybe it'll jog his memory as to what his evil side was planning. Or, if Sensei is still alive..."

"Whatever." Joss said, spinning in her chair to face away from her cousin.

"What is your damage, Joss?" Kim asked, feeling strangely offended all of a sudden. "You've been prodding Ron and I to get together since you joined up. Now you're complaining that I'm showing favoritism?"

"I'm not complainin'! I just think it's a waste o' time, is all." Joss insisted, getting up to leave.

"That's not it and you know it."

"Roger that, Cap'n." Joss said, her words dripping with sarcasm as she left.

Kim growled to herself as she sat alone in the command room. Trying to wrap her mind around what Joss was thinking. "Was I like that when I was seventeen?"

The holographic image of her father formed out of the sudden storm of colored pixels that appeared above the projector. "Anything I can help with, Honey?" Dr. Possible asked in his usual chipper tone.

"I don't know, Dad." Kim admitted, looking up at the image. Fortunately, Wade had been able to purge Ron's programming that had overwritten her Dad's easily enough and return him to normal. "It feels like the team is falling apart. Ron's busy with Hana, Wade's busy with the Invictus Machine, Joss is getting all moody..."

"Sounds like you've got a real family going, Kimmie-Cub." Dr. Possible chuckled. "Reminds me of our family, to tell you the truth."

"What?" Kim asked dryly.

"Well, it seems to me that Ronald is taking care of the new addition like your Mother. Wade is working on the latest technical problem with work, and Joss is just trying to find her place like any teenager would."

Kim looked away for a moment. "So where do I fit in?"

Dr. Possible seemed to ponder this a moment, seemingly lost in thought. "Hmm... Not sure, exactly. But, I'm sure you'll figure it out." he said before vanishing. Kim sighed, letting her head fall onto her desk in frustration.

* * *

Monkey Fist stood calmly with his hands clasped together as he watched the synthodrones toil away, digging in the hard ground. Erik stood beside him with a bored expression on his metallic face, being careful to watch and listen for any synthodrones that may discover something. Clouds had darkened more than usual above the canyon, and only the faintest sillouhette of the Diablos could be seen through them.

"What a waste of time." Erik said, without trying to hide his contempt. "How did you wind up finding out about this thing, anyway?"

Monkey Fist looked at him with an arrogant smile. "By reading. I realize it's become a novel concept amongst today's youth, but rest assured that a good deal of education can still be attained through the medium of pen and paper." Erik shot him a dark glare and Monkey Fist looked away. "Of course if you mean the Destroyer specifically, when my Monkey Powers were stripped away, I used the confusion of the Diablo War to search out the remaining Mystical Monk scrolls and discovered that a weapon existed that could possibly return those abilities to me."

"And this weapon is this Destroyer thing?" Erik asked, obviously feigning disinterest.

Unlike Shego, Monkey Fist noticed, Erik was quite the dutiful little soldier, trying to gain as much intelligence as he could. 'A pity.' Monkey Fist thought. 'That he would have to be wasted.' Monkey Fist gave a polite chuckle. "Heaven's no! The Destroyer is the Han's counterpart. The Yin and Yang of Mystical Monkey-Dom."

"Do you have any idea how retarded that sounds?" Erik asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

Monkey Fist turned with a dark, murderous glare, but fought back the urge to utter empty threats until the power of the Destroyer was his. The ping of metal on metal caught his attention and a group of synthodrones waved him and Erik over. Without hesitation, Monkey Fist leaped and tumbled on all fours toward the deep hole that the synthodrones had dug. At the bottom of it lied a tarnished gold ring that could fit around his arm. "Finally!" he shouted, and before Erik could stop him, Monkey Fist grasped the ring and pulled.

"Fist!" Erik shouted, putting one hand on Monkey Fist's shoulder and flinging him away. The base of the canyon began to crack and lift, as though the fault line had begun to split. Rock and synthodrones were thrown in every direction as an temple made entirely of obsidian rose out of the ground. A statue of a hooded figure stood atop it, and the temple itself took on a menacing simian skull with large, saber-like teeth for an entrance.

The temple continued to rise out of the ground, and Erik engaged his rocket thrusters to avoid being sucked beneath it with the sand and stone. Despite the grating of stone sliding against stone, Erik's enhanced hearing picked up a low, deep throated chanting from Monkey Fist below him. Erik pivoted in mid air and descended fast enough to create a crater where he landed a few feet behind Monkey Fist.

He reached out a single arm and grasped Monkey Fist's neck, lifting him off of the canyon floor. "What did you just do? Tell me now!"

Monkey Fist struggled to laugh as his air supply began to be cut off. "I've unleashed your doom, automaton." he grinned, still kicking his prehensile feet in a futile attempt to weaken Erik's grip.

Erik's glowing blue eyes narrowed, and he began to slowly squeeze his hand around Monkey Fist's throat. "Then I can only guess that your compliance chip has shut down and you're now a threat to my Father's Empire. And you know what I do to threats."

"I'm sure the cheerleader could say something about that." Monkey Fist stated in a grating voice. Erik was about to perform a coup de grace when he was thrown back against the canyon wall, hard enough to lift him off of his feet and embed him there. Monkey Fist stood from where Erik had dropped him, rubbing a hand against his throat. "What took you so long?!" he asked, turning to where the hooded figure stood beside him. Surprised, he looked down at the top of it's head and scoffed. "You're the Destroyer?"

The short statured being pulled his grey robe off over his head, and revealed himself to be a rather ordinary, if menacing monkey wearing an ornate purple robe with gold trim and buttons. In a remarkably deep voice, the monkey replied in perfect English. "What part of YONO the DESTROYER confuses you?" he shouted with a grin.

Monkey Fist watched as Erik stood, shaking the rocks off of his armored body. "The short part." he said absently. "Why don't you prove your power here, on him?" Monkey Fist continued, pointing at the synthomech.

Erik stood up straight with a scowl, brushed himself off and the palms of his hands began to glow with bolts of white-blue energy. The Destroyer grinned and his eyes glowed gold. "Gladly."

* * *

Rufus stepped onto the top of Mount Yamanouchi, with Wade, Joss, Ron, and finally Kim filing out of the Kepler behind him. The secret mountain top school had been beautiful once, with lush trees and intricately built Japanese architecture. Now, it looked as though a giant fist had been brought down on the plateau like a table, rattling the school to it's foundation like a house of cards. The rumors of Erik being lead here by Monkey Fist shortly after the Villain League collapsed had been confirmed by Yori, but each member of Kim's team gasped at the destruction around them.

"What happened here?" Wade asked, scanning the wooden rubble with his battlesuit's sensors.

"Erik versus Sensei." Ron said sadly. "He stayed behind so that Yori and the other students could escape."

"Okay, well what are we supposed to do here now?" Joss asked, lifting a bamboo support with her armored boot.

Ron fell to his knees and hung his head, scooping up a handful of dirt that blew away in the wind as he let it strain through his fingers. "A whole lot of good being the Monkey Master is if I couldn't even save this place." he whispered to himself.

Kim crouched behind Ron and held his shoulders in her arms in a tight embrace before standing again to face the rest of her team. "Fan out, people. Let's see if we can find anything."

"Like what?" Joss asked, obviously skeptical.

"I don't know, Joss." Kim replied, uncertain as to whether they'd find anything herself. "Survivors? Weapons? Clues to Drakken's plans? Find something."

Joss nodded behind her battle suit's mask. "Aye, Cap'n."

As Ron continued watching the dirt fall through his fingers, the patter of footfalls caught his attention and he looked up to see Hana's pink coat disappear behind the rubble of the Yamanouchi Dojo. Without a sound, Ron moved to catch her.

"Ron, see if you can find..." Kim began, turning back to where he had been sitting. "Now where'd he go?"

"Hana's gone too, Kim." Wade announced from the Kepler's entry ramp.

Kim sighed, touching her forehead with a gloved hand. "Okay, stay here. I'll go find Ron and Hana before they get into too much trouble. As soon as we're all together, we'll head back to base."

* * *

Kim strode cautiously through the rubble of the Yamanouchi School, the wind blowing her braid around her torso. The clouds above her were growing dark, with charges of an odd gold lightning sweeping through them and a constant rolling thunder overcoming the whistle of the wind blowing through the bamboo wreckage. "Ron!" she shouted. "If you can't keep a radio on you, make sure you stay close to someone that can." she continued under her breath.

"Ms. Possible." said a deep, accented voice from behind her.

Kim spun, her pistol drawn and braced only inches from Sensei's forehead. The elderly man wore his typical, humble red robe, wooden clogs, and carried a single lit candle that seemed unaffected by the wind. His long white beard and moustache twitched slightly, the only indication that her reaction had phased him. Kim blew a lock of loose auburn hair out of her face, trying to decide if the man before her was real or not. She had only met him once, when she had chased Yori and Ron around the world, only to help them rescue Sensei from DNAmy. "So it is true." she said, holstering her weapon. "You are alive."

"Truth is often what we choose to believe." Sensei said cryptically.

"Ri-i-i-ght..." she said slowly. "You haven't seen Ron around here, have you?"

"Stoppable-San is learning to embrace the destiny set before him." Sensei replied. As if on cue, a loud crack of thunder erupted from the clouds that enveloped the mountains, causing Kim's ears to ring slightly for a moment. "The Destroyer approaches." he continued, looking up toward the darkened sky.

"What destiny? And what is the Destroyer?!" Kim asked. While the Master Sensei of the Yamanouchi Ninja School certainly demanded respect, Kim was growing tired of his ability to remain cryptic. When Sensei didn't reply, Kim narrowed her eyes and brushed past him the way she came.

"Without Stoppable-San, I'm afraid that you and your companions will perish." he said, still gazing toward the sky.

Kim hesitated a moment, somehow knowing that this moment in time wasn't the only one he was referring to. Would Ron still have become the Monkey Master if she hadn't left him behind on prom night? Kim shook her head and pushed the memory from her mind. "Well if Ron isn't going to come back to step up to his destiny, the rest of us will have to." she said. The words hurt to say, but the nagging hint of blame that continued to linger in the back of her mind whispered them loudly in her ear, reminding her that if Ron had just used his powers to rescue her Dad, things would have been better.

"To err is human, Kim Possible. But to persist is diabolical." Sensei said as calmly as she passed.

"So tell Ron that! If this is his destiny, why isn't he here?"

"Battling the Destroyer is not the destiny I speak of. It is the one you both share."

"What is that..." Kim asked, finally turning to face him again. But Sensei was gone as mysteriously as he had appeared.

"Kim, we've got some serious physics going on here." Announced Wade through her comm. Static was beginning to drown out his voice and Kim had to struggle to hear.

Kim growled, pushing away Sensei's cryptic words until she could sort through them later. "I'm on my way." she replied, running back toward the courtyard.

* * *

"Hana! Come back here!" Ron shouted, winding his way through what was left standing of the school. Despite moving at blinding speed, the six year old was managing to outmaneuver him. She weaved her way instinctively through the walkways, leaping over stumps and rolling under shafts of bamboo that had blocked off pathways. "You have to be careful!" he said, running out of breath. "Who knows what you'll find.." he continued before stopping to find Hana playing on the statue of Toshimiru. "Here."

The statue was lying on it's back in a nearly dried up stream bed, and was seemingly unscathed. Toshimiru still held the Lotus Blade above his head, wore his Samurai armor proudly, and had a defiant scowl on his face that was partially hidden by the closely trimmed beard that was sculpted into the stone. Hana was balancing along the statue's length with her arms stretched out to either side as Ron approached. She stopped, slumping down on the stone figure as she kicked her feet lightly in the cold water. "My home's all gone, isn't it?"

Ron frowned. "I think everyone's home is gone, Hana." he said, sitting down on the statue next to her. "Kim and I got to see our home a little while ago too. It wasn't pretty."

Hana lifted her eyes to where the Yamanouchi School once stood. "Is it ever gonna come back?" she asked, picking a smooth stone out of the water at her feet.

Ron shrugged. "I don't know..." he admitted, then sat up suddenly. "I mean, maybe not how it was. But we'll all have a home again soon. I'm sure of it." he added, doing his best to reassure the girl. Hana flung the stone onto the surface of the stream and it deflected off the water, than off of a boulder before ricocheting back toward them. "Whoa!" Ron cried. The stone zipped past  
his ear, off of a tree stump behind him and struck Toshimiru's sword, cracking the stone to reveal a shiny bluish silver metal beneath it.

Ron squinted at the metal a moment as Hana climbed over to sit beside him. "Did I break it?"

"Kinda." Ron answered. "But I think that's a good thing." He reached out to chip away more of the stone covering the statue and finding that the armor too, was real; covered by a thick layer of hardened clay. "Way to be a Stoppable, Hana." he grinned.

A smile broke the girl's usual solemn features, and it was one of belonging. "What are you gonna do?"

Ron narrowed his eyes at the statue, Toshimiru's katana and Samurai armor nearly uncovered. "Destiny's calling, Han. As Joss would say, I'm aimin' to misbehave."

* * *

As Kim arrived back in the courtyard, a heavy grey fog was beginning to roll over the walls that were still intact around the school, and through the gates that had been destroyed years earlier. Wade had his back to a stone pillar that had been knocked over, pushing buttons on his gauntlet. Joss was crouched behind the large brass gong that the students had used as an alarm, and Rufus' armored body stood behind her with his energy cannon at the ready.

Moving quickly, Kim performed a series of handsprings toward Wade's position before sliding to a stop next to him. "What's the sitch?" she asked, drawing her pistol and peeking over the side of the pillar.

"Can't tell, Kim. Too much interference." came his reply.

"Kim, somethin's comin' out!" Joss stated, and Kim turned around to see better. Through the fog, what looked like a large statue came sailing out and tore a gouge into the courtyard as it landed between both groups of team members. "Is that?"

"It's Erik." Kim confirmed. The synthomech had his arms raised, as though about to fire his arm cannons, and wore a look of rage on his hex covered face. Instead of shiny blue and black armored plating covering him though, his shell was dull and stone like.

"I guess whoever's out there can't be all bad. Heh." Wade chuckled, and Kim couldn't help but smile at the comment.

"Quick question." Kim said. "How does an indestructible robot get turned to stone?"

"Well, all of Drakken's synthetics are based on electronic DNA. Erik and Shego especially." Wade answered. "It's quite literally living metal."

"Okay, so..." Kim began as two figures; one tall and lanky, the other short and obviously simian; appeared in the fog. She stood slowly, keeping her pistol ready to fire. "Monkey Fist. Who's your little friend?" she asked with a smirk.

"Ah, Kim Possible!" Monkey Fist grinned. "Say hello to the Destroyer, won't you? How do you like his handiwork?" he asked, gesturing to Erik. "I dare say, you probably owe me a favor. Isn't that how you used to do your little adventures? A favor for a favor?"

"Sure thing." Kim raised her pistol and smiled. "Right after I do the rest of the world one."

Monkey Fist glared at her darkly. "We'll see. Destroy them!" With a snap of his fingers, the monkey that stood beside him in a purple and gold robe leaped up to a lotus position, hovering in place. With a bright gold aura shining from his eyes, he let out a maniacal laugh and raised his arms, unleashing gold bolts of lightning that tore up the earth across the plateau. Kim's team were flung to either side of the crevice like feathers on the wind.

Wade skidded to a stop in the dust, and he shielded his head from the oncoming pebbles and rocks, then ducked beneath the pillar he had been using as cover as it bounced by. Joss was flung past Rufus, her pistols scattering as she broke through a remaining bamboo wall of one of the school houses, only to have it collapse on top of her. Rufus leaned into the debris storm, engaging the foot pylons that extended from the feet of his battle armor to secure him to the ground. But the fracture kept spreading, and eventually the ground beneath him broke up enough that he toppled over backward. Kim jumped as the crevice opened up, and the shockwave that created the tear pushed her high and away. She performed a series a mid air flips to slow her momentum, like backspin on a ball, and landed squarely on her feet on a nearby rooftop. As the building she landed on began to give way, she slid down the Japanese slats and dropped to the ground in a crouch, the building behind her crumbling into a cloud of dust.

"I think we can designate this thing as non living, people." she said. "Give'em all you've got!"

Joss activated the magnetic couplers in her gloves, drawing both of her pistols to her hands. She climbed to her feet as her weapons skittered across the ground and leaped into her hands, spinning into position. "Finally, some me time." she said through the radio as she took aim at the Destroyer, unleashing an onslaught of energy. Each capacitor barely had time to charge and revolve into place before she pulled the trigger again and again.

Rufus shook his head, grasping the controls of his suit in his paws and grumbling to himself. Collision and gyro alarms were blaring inside his cockpit and he began flipping switches and maneuvering the dual joysticks that gave him control over the battle armor. His heads up display fizzled with static as he forced the robotic body to it's feet. Red targetting markers shimmered into view on his screen, highlighting the glowing monkey that Monkey Fist had brought with him and Rufus aimed his energy cannon, letting out a shrill cry as the weapon unleashed a stream of energy.

Wade unclipped a small canister from his utility pack, flicked away a sealant pin before tossing it toward their target. As the canister flew, it began to glow with a blue light and a tiny vortex formed, imploding the container as it continued toward the Destroyer.

Kim winced as she leaped over the new chasm in the center of the courtyard, firing on target shots from her pistol. The Destroyer's gold aura had brightened, but the reticle that covered her right eye compensated and allowed her to see the mayhem that was occurring at their target's location. While Monkey Fist flinched at the sudden assault, the Destroyer stood with one arm behind his back, deflecting energy bolts with his palm. As the Pan-D grenade activated, the Destroyer reached out and grasped the vortex with his open hand. He glared down at the intense blue glow in his fist and clenched his hand tight until the light died.

"Where's Ron?!" Joss shouted.

"I don't know." Kim whispered to herself.

"My turn." the Destroyer said in a fiercely belying deep voice. He rushed forward faster than Kim's targeting system could track, catching her mid leap and knocking her through a stone wall behind her. He immediately turned to Rufus, who was in the process of turning in order to follow his target with his energy cannon. With a shout of rage, the Destroyer reached out, and without touching Rufus's robotic body, wrenched it in half, splitting it in two with a shower of sparks. Wade launched a pair of stunner darts that were connected directly into his suit's power supply. Catching them in one hand, the Destroyer snapped them like a whip and slammed Wade into the ground before dragging him off the dirt and throwing him into Joss.

Rufus scurried out of the rubble where his battle armor had been standing before it had been torn in half, and disabled from catastrophic damage. Despite not making a sound, the Destroyer turned toward him and laughed, his eyes shining.

"Rufus is down!" Wade cried as Kim leaped to her feet. The naked mole rat had been petrified in mid leap as he had tried to escape. His pink skin was now a dull grey and he stood with an eternal look of terror on his whiskered features. The shout attracted the Destroyer's attention, and Wade put a hand up to shield himself. The Destroyer's eyes blazed and Wade shouted out, his voice reverberating in his helmet.

And it continued to echo as the Destroyer laughed. Wade opened his eyes and looked up to see Joss standing still, and blocking the path between him and the monkey. Her normally black and gold battlesuit had the same rocky appearance as both Rufus and Erik now had, and out of reflex, Wade scrambled away.

"Wade, find Ron!" Kim shouted, slamming her fist across the Destroyer's cheek as she descended from a leap. The punch spun the monkey around in surprise, and Kim followed through with a myonetically enhanced kick that sent the Destroyer sliding away and clawing the ground with all four paws to slow himself.

The Destroyer shook his head and leaped high, slowing as he tucked up his legs to remain suspended in the air. Beams of gold energy erupted from his eyes and Kim cartwheeled and hand sprung from side to side, dodging and weaving away from the Destroyer's petrifying gaze. Her eye caught sight of Monkey Fist still standing calmly with an arrogant grin at the destroyed gate, watching the battle from afar. She bit her lip in indecision as she continued to perform flips, splits, and rolls toward Monkey Fist and finally drew her weapon.

"If I can't get rid of your pet, maybe I can get rid of you!" she shouted, pulling the trigger.

* * *

"Ron!" Wade shouted as Ron rounded the corner into the courtyard. He shielded his eyes from a sudden flash of gold light, then gasped as a statue of Wade stood before him. Hana grasped his hand in fear, and Ron looked down at the suit of Samurai armor he wore, wondering if it was actually going to help.

"Hana, go find Kim." Ron whispered, letting go of the little girl's hand and putting his back to a stone wall that was still standing. He closed his eyes and listened as Monkey Fist spoke.

"You almost allowed her to shoot me!" the man cried, stepping closer. "Fortunately, it seems she still can't bring herself to actually end someone's life." Ron peeked out from around the wall he was hiding behind and frowned. In the center of the courtyard was Kim, frozen mid stance while aiming her pistol toward the gate. Her normally shiny blue and white army was now a dull grey, as was her skin and hair. Monkey Fist drew in close to Kim's face with a look of smugness. "The game is over, Kim Possible! Now that the Destroyer is under my control, I'll rule the world now. And I will renew it with a civilization of Monkeys!" he laughed, raising his arms in the air.

"Kim!" Ron shouted in surprise and anger, stepping out from around the wall. Both Monkey Fist and the Destroyer turned to face him, and Ron swallowed in uncertainty From the sheath at his side, he pulled a katana that gave the chilling shriek of a monkey howl as it was pulled out and held at the ready.

Monkey Fist stepped forward with his hands behind his back, glaring at Ron with hateful eyes. "Give me back my powers that I may fulfill my destiny as the Ultimate Monkey Master, and I'll spare you my wrath, boy!"

"Sorry, that destiny's already been taken. Pick another, Monkey-Man!"

"Very well." Monkey Fist replied in a bored tone. "I will enjoy tearing them from you. It's quite unpleasant, I assure you." he continued, snapping his fingers and moving out from between Ron and the Destroyer. The monkey brought a hand down in a chopping motion that split the ground deeply, creating a new gouge that spread toward Ron.

Ron held his ground, holding the sword in front of him as the crevice reached a mere few feet in front of him and split in two as though the shockwave had been parried. Opening one eye, Ron smiled in surprise as he realized he was standing on a pillar surrounded by a new chasm. "Boo-Yah!" he cried, his breath coming rapidly. He turned back and glared at the Destroyer a moment, who stared back at him in disbelief.

Ron grinned as his blue aura shimmered into existence around him, causing the samurai armor he wore and the sword he carried to shine as well. Dark rings formed around his eyes and his hair began to float, as did the debris around him from the destroyed school. In a single leap, he crossed the chasm that separated him from his target with the sword raised over his head. As he landed, the Destroyer leaned from side to side as the sword narrowly swished by, and he began to slowly retreat as Ron pushed forward.

Seeing an opening, the Destroyer grinned and brought a open palmed strike up under Ron's chin, splitting the samurai helmet in two and throwing him back, sliding on his feet to the edge of the chasm.

The Destroyer smiled. "Toshimiru's armor is not so powerful as to withstand my powers."

Ron shook his head to clear it, then raised his sword. On the tip was a tuft of brown hair and a faint streak of blood. The Destroyer looked down at the tip of his tail that had been severed. "Doesn't look like you're so tough as to withstand mine, either." Ron grinned.

* * *

"Whau!" Ron shouted, leaping toward the Destroyer again. Hana was busy moving stealthily to where Kim had been frozen, using the skills she had somehow inherently learned while escaping from the synthodrones that had tirelessly chased her over weeks. The hairy man in the skin tight black uniform that had originally brought her to Lord Drakken to be tested on was standing nearby and being careful not to get in the way of the battle.

Ron had become like a father to her since he found her; Kim, like a mother. What Hana couldn't understand is why they didn't act like parents around each other like the parents in the Passages. They rarely hugged, and never kissed, even though they'd look at each other fondly when they thought no one was looking. Hana shook her head, convinced she'd never understand adults.

With an innate swiftness, she charged from her hiding place to where Kim was frozen, sliding to a stop in front of the petrified woman. Hana smiled to herself, raising a rock over her head in order to break the rock covering Kim like she had Toshimiru, when a hand picked her up by her coat. "That will be enough of that, little one." Monkey Fist said, holding Hana out at arm's length. "Come, Han. Come with me and your destiny as an unstoppable weapon won't be squandered like it will with these troublesome..."

Monkey Fist's offer was cut short when Hana glared at him, then looked down and threw the rock that was in her hands down on his prehensile foot. He dropped her instantly, cradling his foot in his hands and hopping backward while cursing through clenched teeth. "Kim and Ron are my family, now." Hana said, kicking Monkey Fist in the shin.

Switching to hugging the opposite shin of his injured foot, Monkey Fist continued to hop and growl. "Why you little..." As Hana wound up to strike him again, Monkey Fist blocked. "Mystical weapon or not, you're still a little girl, and no match for a master of Tai Sheng Pek War!"

Hana frowned and backed away a moment. Monkey Fist was standing before her like a monster from her closet. As frightening and powerful as Erik or the Destroyer, and casting a long shadow over her. Her eyes began to water and she caught sight of Ron struggling against the Destroyer, despite knowing that all of his friends had been petrified. He was being tossed back and forth by the monkey in the purple robe, striving to defeat the creature as it threw him through walls and pummelled him into the ground. Bruises were beginning to form on Ron's face, despite his blue aura, and he was beginning to limp and slow as the battle progressed, now merely holding his sword out to block the Destroyer's taunting attacks.

Monkey Fist came back into focus as he performed a Monkey Kung Fu kata, reaching out to snatch her in his grip again. Hana glared at him, and in one swift motion, locked his outstretched arm in her tiny hands and twisted her body. Despite the vast different in size, she managed to pull Monkey Fist off of his prehensile feet with ease and swing him overhead in a wide arc and slammed him against the ground hard enough to cause an imprint in the hard packed ground.

* * *

As the Destroyer hovered above the battle in a shimmering gold aura, sending flashes of light from his eyes and hands that tore up the remains of the school, Ron was narrowly dodging the mystical attacks and he leaped to the top of the tallest remaining building. As the stonework exploded around him, he spun, using the flying debris as stepping stones toward the Destroyer. Ron raised his sword to attack, throwing himself forward from the last piece of exploding rock and the Destroyer drew a fist back. Sidestepping Ron's attack, the Destroyer struck him in the chest, sending him sailing down to impact the ground in a cloud of dust, the blue glow that surrounded him fading.

The Destroyer's laugh subsided as the sound of another body striking the ground echoed across the plateau. He turned to see a young Japanese girl let go of Monkey Fist's limp hand. With a frown, he descended to a standing position behind the girl and bowed. "You have defeated he who has unearthed me. Now he will find his place following the path of the Yono."

Hana turned to see the Destroyer look at her almost thankfully before vanishing in a puff of smoke. Monkey Fist suddenly awoke and looked as though he was about to scream out as stone began to spread across his body and he sank into the ground where he laid.

The sound of an energy pistol firing startled Hana, and she looked up to see Kim staring down at her hands. "What happened?"

"Come! Ron's hurt!" Hana said, taking Kim by the hand.

The dust was still settling where Ron was weakly lifting himself to his feet, dragging his sword behind him. "Come on!" he rasped. "Y'want s'more o' this?" he asked, swinging his weapon randomly. "You run already? I'm... I'm just gettin' started."

"Ron!" Kim shouted as she raced past Joss and Rufus, who fell over as their stone cocoons faded into wisps of smoke. She leaped over rubble and rolled under destroyed beams that threatened to block her path, wrapping her arms around him and pressing her cheek to his.

"Ow!" he said, cringing as Kim pressed into him. He dropped his sword, struggling to embrace Kim. He felt barely conscious, and the only thing keeping him awake seemed to be the pain of Kim's battle armor digging into his skin that weren't covered by Toshimiru's Samurai armor. Tiny arms wrapped around his leg and he rested his head sleepily on Kim's shoulder pauldron, and moved a hand down to tousle Hana's jet black hair. "I love you guys."

"I love you too, Ron." Kim whispered through teary eyes, trying to hold him closer.

"It's a Kodak moment." Wade laughed as he, Joss, and Rufus looked on.

* * *

Sensei stood calmly in his red robe, watching the Kepler lift off and disappear into the fog that surrounded Mount Yamanouchi. He still held his single candle in front of him with one hand, and he stroked his beard with the other in thought. "Stoppable-San is nearly ready for his destiny. It is unfortunate that he is still alone."

"I had no idea the Ron-man had it in him." Felix said, standing next to the elderly Ninja Master. "But what makes you think he's alone? He's got Kim, and Wade, and Rufus, and..."

"Stoppable-san's heart is alone, as is Ms. Possible's. Their destinies are bound, and if they do not discover this soon, I fear for us all."

"Ugh." Felix sighed, scratching his head. "Even in an apocalyptic world, it seems High School never ends." he said. He looked down at a small wrist watch looking contraption on his arm and smiled. "Anyway, our window is almost closed. We'd better get you to Eden Two so you can get back to your students. A clan of Ninja in a place devoted to peace doesn't really mix well. Yori's been having difficulties keeping some of them in line."

"She will learn." Sensei replied. "As for me, my destiny has been fulfilled. Take care of all of my students, Renton-San." he said, giving Felix a subtle wink before walking away into the rubble of the Yamanouchi school.

Felix watched after him as Sensei disappeared into the dust and smoke that was continuing to settle. "What is that supposed to mean?!" he shouted into the darkness. When no answer came, he touched a number of buttons on his wrist watch and behind him, a blue rimmed portal opened, showing a purple sky and land covered in green grass and small buildings. "Hope you and Kim figure it out pretty quick, Ron-man. We can't wait forever." he said, speaking into the clouds that the Kepler had disappeared into before turning and stepping into the portal.

* * *

Erik watched with satisfaction as the portal disappeared. The moment he had been freed from the Destroyer's stone prison, he had escaped higher into the mountains to regenerate and observe, and he was glad he did. "So Eden Two does exist, and it's not on Earth. How interesting." he grinned. Unfolding the rocket thrusters from his back, Erik engaged them and began making his way across the ocean toward BN Headquarters.

* * *

**A special thank you to Katsumara for editing and revision input on this chapter!**


	17. Freedom One

**Freedom One**

"This is Freedom One speaking; the voice of the Global Resistance Movement. Valiant fighters in Sector Nine destroyed a column of Synthetics today with no casualties. There have been intensified sweeps by Erik in Sector One, and all resistance members are warned to stay undercover. I have also recently received word of a stunning blow against a secret Synthetic outpost by Kim Possible. She is an inspiration to us all."

Across the globe, humanity listened. They listened to the voice of a woman that was being broadcast over thousands of redundant signal repeaters that were hidden away. By the year two thousand five, when the Diablos had sprung up and destroyed the world's resistance to Lord Drakken's rule, radios had nearly become a thing of the past. An archaic avenue of entertainment that had been set aside for bigger and clearer television sets.

Now, in nearing the end of two thousand ten, nearly every family that was still managing to scratch out an existence in Earth's wastelands huddled around whatever they could find that had a radio receiver. Some were old car radios that had been salvaged and hooked up to a reluctant solar panel, it's sound fading in and out as Diablos passed overhead. Others were seemingly ancient devices that nevertheless worked tirelessly after sitting in basements and pawn shops for decades.

* * *

Kim stood in uniform outside Wade's lab where he and Ron were working. The Samurai style armor that Ron had picked up at Yamanouchi was apparently more than met the eye. An awful grinding sound could be heard coming from the room as Wade put the suit through intense durability tests. Kim watched as Ron stood still, cringing as a monofilament, diamond edged cutting wheel created sparks on the armor plating.

Soon, the grating noise stopped and Wade turned to his computer system to analyze his data. The technological genius wore large ear muffs to block out the noise of the tests, and Kim took a deep breath before entering the room behind the pair as Ron looked over Wade's shoulder.

Tapping him on the back to get his attention, Kim took the plunge. "Ron, I know you're busy but I've got something I really need to say." she began, feeling herself blush with embarrassment. She looked down at the floor, knowing it would be easier not looking him in the eye. "The other day at Yamanouchi after the Destroyer was defeated and you said you loved us and I replied with saying I love you too, I meant it because while you were evil you kissed me and it got me thinking that you maybe love me too but since we've been friends for so long it might be kinda weird because I'm not sure I love you like Joss thinks I love you but I love you because you've always been there for me kinda love you but I was always so worried that you wouldn't want to risk our friendship like last time and I couldn't bare being rejected and I decided it was easier to make hard decisions if I stayed closed off but even Sensei seemed to think that if I don't let people close that I'll forget the whole reason we're fighting!" she finished, her voice starting to creak.

She looked at Ron a few moments, looking for a reaction when finally he shook his head, and pulled out a pair of earplugs that had been keeping his hearing protected from Wade's tests. "Sorry, KP. What was that?" he asked, smiling innocently.

Kim felt as though all of those words had been literally sucked out of her mind and the blush of embarrassment turned into a flush of rage. Her fingernails nearly cut into her palms, and her head lowered slightly as she turned away to exit the room. "Nothing." she growled under her breath.

"Kim! She's back." came Joss's voice over the intercom.

"Broadcast through the base, Joss." Kim replied as Wade and Ron ran past her. She sighed heavily, wondering if it was even possible for a Possible to finally find love.

* * *

Kim entered the command room last to see Joss adjusting the frequency of the Global Justice base's radio receiver. Hana had been chasing Rufus around the room, including up walls and along the ceiling, and Wade and Ron were sitting with dreamy looks as the woman's voice crackled into existence over the intercom.

"Freedom One is back on the air after an emergency relocation. I was nearly captured by Lord Drakken's troops, but managed to escape with the help of Olthar, one of our bravest and most dedicated leaders. Olthar, I owe you. I know that it cost you. Sacrifice is a word we all know too well. There is no one within the sound of my voice who has not lost someone. A lover, a family member, or a friend. But there is something we must never lose: Hope."

The last word rang through Kim's mind as she looked over at Ron. There was still hope in his brown eyes... and laughter. Something that she herself had lost a little of with each loss over the years. Hesitantly, she placed her hand over Ron's and he smiled back at her quietly, bumping her fist with his in a gesture of friendship.

* * *

Monique rubbed the sweat from her brow after setting down another crate of supplies. She pulled a canteen from her belt, and took a long drink of water to cool herself. Her resistance cell Commander paced back and forth in front of the radio as Freedom One broadcast the resistance's progress against Drakken, and spouted words of hope and perseverance. While the news of Kim Possible's survival and victories against the synthetics brought a fond smile to Monique's face, there was something about the broadcasts that rubbed her the wrong way.

The Commander was an older man, close to his troops and jovial in nature, and he had more than once risked his life for the people he lead. He scratched the stubble on his face that had grown over the last few days, pulling on it in worry. There had been rumors that Drakken was onto their location, and the Colorado caves that Monique herself had mentioned had bought them a few days of rest inside the catacombs of the Rocky Mountains.

"Without hope, we'll give up when we're tired or hungry and when it seems that chaos and madness will overwhelm us. When it seems that hope no longer has meaning, that is the day that Drakken wins." the voice of Freedom One said. Without warning, an explosion shook the caves that the resistance cell had taken shelter in, and Monique twisted out of the way of an energy bolt as a synthodrone appeared at a nearby entrance to the cave.

"Get down!" the Commander shouted, drawing his sidearm. Bullets were bouncing off the synthodrone's husk as more red and black autonomous soldiers began to fill the caverns.

"Argus!" Monique shouted, reaching out for the sawed off lever action shotgun that she had left on the supply crate. She recoiled her hand as her canteen that was standing beside her weapon exploded into a cloud of vaporized water and plastic.

"Monique! Get the others out!" Commander Argus replied. Taking careful aim with his pistol, the bullet pierced the glass eye of one of the synthodrones, dumping it's yellow synthogoo onto the floor of the cave.

"Hope is the flame that burns in our hearts."

Another synthodrone turned, aiming at the sudden new threat despite the hail of inconsequential gun fire, and fired. The first energy blast hit the steel box that Commander Argus had hidden behind, the second struck him in the chest and he fell back, a look of shock on his face.

"The warmth when our soul is cold."

Monique glared darkly at the invading synthodrones, and rolled out from behind the outcropping of stone she had hidden behind to grab the grip of her shotgun, spinning it on her finger as she stood to pump the lever on the weapon. Goggles began to shatter and synthogoo began to pool out as Monique emptied her weapon.

More fighting could be heard throughout the tunnels, but Monique dropped the gun and lifted Argus's head onto her lap as she kneeled beside him. "Argus, don't you dare leave! These people need you. They need to hear those crazy stories you tell."

Argus smiled slightly, despite the energy burns. "Heh. It's your turn now Mon." he rasped. "Get them out of here."

"The light when darkness surrounds us."

"Would someone turn that damn thing off?!" she shouted, looking away from the man in her arms.

"No." Argus said. "I like the sound of her voice..."

* * *

Each one of Kim's team listened intently as the solemn message played out. Hana was laying on the floor, scratching Rufus's bald head like one would a dog, and Joss had both of her pistols laid out in front of her in pieces as she cleaned the various connections and lenses. Wade was studying the scanned blueprints of Ron's Invictus machine while Ron was playing with Hana's rubber ball, bouncing it off the floor and catching it.

Kim was pacing back and forth in the control room with her head down and arms crossed, as though waiting for something while the broadcast continued. "I end today's broadcast with a special message. I call down the thunder." Kim suddenly perked up at the line, listening intently "I repeat, I call down the thunder."

"Dad, get ready to receive a tight beam transmission!" she said, the holographic image of Mr. Dr. Possible forming above the five computer banks in the center of the control room.

"What's up, KP?!" Ron asked, missing the last catch of the ball, only to have it bounce off his forehead. Hana and Rufus burst out in giggles as Joss and Wade looked up from their work toward Kim, who had begun typing at her console.

"Receiving transmission, Kimmie-cub." Mr. Dr. Possible replied, closing his eyes and whistling the Captain Constellation theme song.

"Decrypt as soon as you can." she ordered, then met the confused gazes of her companions. "We've traded information a few times, alright? Texting with the Kimmunicator."

"You can take the girl away from the cell phone, but you can't take the cell phone away from the girl." Ron grinned, earning him a glare from Kim.

"Anyway, 'Calling down the thunder' is a code word she gave me for an emergency transmission with extraction coordinates." she continued, waiting for the information to appear on the screen. "There!" Kim pointed to a set of coordinates on a grid, blinking in the northern sectors of Russia.

Joss shivered just looking at the globe. "Why ain't we ever gettin' to go somewhere that I can actually get my Montana tan back?"

"Meh. Tan lines are over rated." Ron said, leaning back in his chair with a smile.

"Who says I'd have any?" Joss replied with a sly smile and a wink.

Kim rolled her eyes and frowned, trying not to pay attention to Joss and Ron's exchange. "Suit up people. We need to jet." Ron scooped up Rufus and Hana as Wade shut down the Invictus schematics and followed him, while Joss began expertly putting both of her energy pistols back together within seconds. "Joss..."

Joss looked up for a moment as she charged the capacitors of each weapon and holstered them in turn. "Yes, Cap'n?" she asked coldly.

"I'm sorry that I got angry before. I just never thought of Ron.."

"Yes you did, Kim." Joss replied, facing her cousin. "Why else have a midriff baring uniform? Why else keep a bikini line? Why else make him braid your hair while you sit on your bed, wearing just your pajamas? Why else watch over him for a solid week and become a surrogate mother to his adopted daughter?" Joss asked, looking suddenly confused with a tumult of emotions locked into her face. "Why else tell him you love him when he's nearly unconscious and why else would you try holding his hand a few minutes ago?"

Kim felt suddenly vulnerable in front of Joss, as though a secret had just been let out. Defensively, she looked down at Joss, feeling her temperature rise. "You've been spying on me?!"

"I don't need to Kim. You're an open book to everyone but Ron and yourself; you're just too scared of losing what's left that you're putting it all in a lock box to look at in your free time!" Joss shouted, pressing her face closer to Kim's. "Maybe it's time to step back and let your trophy out of it's case!"

"What is that supp... Wait... You like him, don't you?"

Joss suddenly shrank back. "What? I don't..." she stammered, then folded her arms over her chest in sudden discomfort. "Maybe I do. So what?!"

"That's why you've been telling me how good of a catch he is! You want him! And now you're jealous!"

Joss squeezed her eyes shut and growled. "Y'know what? Maybe I am! I never got to go to High School, remember? I never will! That means no dating, no prom, no cheerleaders and jocks and no who's dating and who's breaking up, and no boyfriends, alright?! I get nothin'! And try as you might to blame Ron for leaving your Dad behind, you're the one that left him to go save Erik, remember?!"

Joss might as well put one of her pistols against Kim's chest and pulled the trigger. She stood motionless for a moment, her lips and tongue wanting to form words but her teeth and jaw were unwilling to separate enough to let any sound out. Her green eyes however, were speaking volumes and Joss quietly backed away with a frightened expression. As Joss slowly created some distance between them, Kim found her voice, though it was once again cold and unfeeling. "Fine, Joss. You needn't live vicariously through me anymore."

"Excuse me?!"

"Ever since you tried following me around, you've tried living someone else's life." Kim said quietly. "You're almost eighteen, Joss. Now's your chance to get your own. You want him? You've got him." Kim continued, walking past Joss toward the control room's exit. "Come on. We've got a mission to do."

* * *

Lord Drakken watched Erik's footage again and again, his grin slowly creasing the left side of his face as the young man in the holographic image touched a series of buttons on a wrist computer, opening a portal behind him and stepping through it before it closed again. "Well now, that is interesting!"

Erik smiled to himself, standing tall in the throne room with Shego across from him. "Thank you, Father."

"It's unfortunate that we don't know what happened to Monkey Fist, or his mystery weapon, but this may be the last cell of organized resistance. Destroying it might finally break Kim Possible's spirit! When the enemy goes to ground, leave no ground to go to! Muah-ha-ah-ha!"

"So?" Shego asked. "You still can't get there."

"Mmmm. Beg to differ!" Drakken stated. The holographic image moved aside and another image appeared beside it. Shego recognized it instantly as Middleton before the Diablo War, yet there was a trail of destruction lining one of the main streets. The view point was looking through what seemed to be large yellow bars, and suddenly a large reptilian foot crashed down and turned toward a line of projectiles that were being launched from a bakery. As the blue and green speckled monster was distracted by the lobbing pastries, a teenage Kim Possible and a blond woman in green began setting up some kind of contraption in the street. Suddenly, a portal opened in front of the dinosaur like creature and sucked it in. Within the portal was a purple sky and peaceful, untouched green pastures. "Hephaestus!"

"Yes, Lord Drakken?" the haunting voice replied.

"Analyze this memory and discover the wave length that device is attuned to! I must know where they are!"

* * *

Vivian Porter crept along the outermost wall of the abandoned Russian office building she had held up in. The wind blowing through the numerous open windows and doorways was bitter and she zipped up the fur collar of the heavy coat she wore. Double checking the transmitter that hung on her back to make certain it hadn't been damaged, she drew a small energy pistol that she had picked up from another group of resistance fighters and peered out of the building into the darkened streets that were contrasted with a thick layer of snow.

She knew the synthetics were out there, as her portable scanner had alerted her to mass amounts of movement outside of the building, but she knew she had to escape before the building was flattened. As Vivian scanned the dark wreckage of the city, two yellow points of light showed themselves. She fired her pistol, catching the synthodrone between it's lenses before she ran through the doorway and behind an old, snow covered car. Energy bolts began coming out of the darkness, burning through the car with ease. Picking herself up, Vivian began to run for a snowmobile that she had used to reach the remote area, then slid to a stop as it exploded.

A series of dull thuds and more weapons fire cracked through the cold, dry air and the prickly powder blew up around Vivian's face. The synthodrones had stopped firing at her, and four new shapes had appeared, supposedly dropped from the large transport vessel that was now twisting around to land in a nearby clearing as the last synthodrone fell. A man in dull grey armor and a woman in shiny blue and white armor with an auburn braid came over to help her to her feet.

"Kim Possible?!" Vivian shouted and Kim nodded, putting an arm around Vivian's waist.

"In the flesh!" her companion shouted over the wind, helping Vivian from her other side. "Lets's get you onto the Kepler and out of the cold." Vivian nodded.

* * *

Once the Kepler was in flight, all but Joss and Hana were in the passenger compartment of the modified rocket, waiting for the mysterious Freedom One to reveal herself. Vivian pulled her furred hood back and unzipped her coat to reveal her long blond hair and model-like body that was wrapped in curve clinging coveralls. "Vivian Francis Porter." Kim Possible announced. "I knew I recognized your voice." she admitted, keeping her arms crossed and expression cold.

"To tell you the truth Kim, I wasn't sure it was really you out here. That maybe someone else had decided to use your name for morale purposes." Vivian replied, catching Ron and Wade both eyeing her up, trying to be subtle yet failing miserably.

Kim looked toward the elevator that lead to the cockpit for a moment before answering. "It's me, alright. Now I need to ask you some questions."

Vivian smiled. "No need." she said, holding up her hands. "You want to know why I called you here. Understandable, so I'll cut right to the chase." Vivian began unbuckling the leather carrying case that contained her transmitter, then continued. "I've been in contact with the five most powerful resistance leaders in the world, including you, Kim. I've set up a meeting at a secret location, but I need you to gather everyone."

"That's crazy!" Wade exclaimed. "Having all the resistance in one place would be suicide if Drakken found out about it."

"He won't if we move fast enough." Vivian assured him. "And that's why I need you. Your ship is the fastest thing on the planet."

Kim bit her bottom lip in thought as Vivian stared at her, waiting for a response. "Suppose we agree. Why would the other leaders make themselves that vulnerable?"

"You, Kim." Vivian said. "Your exploits from before the war as well as what you've done against Drakken lately has inspired them. They want a leader. They want you. The troops that would be under your command would number at least a hundred or more. You'd be a modern day Centurion."

Kim looked over at Ron, who nodded with an encouraging smile that she couldn't return. "Okay, Vivian. What's the sitch?"

"You and your crew will pick up the various resistance leaders and meet me at a secret location that I'll transmit the coordinates to with the same tight beam encryption I sent to you, once you're all on your way back. Then, once everyone's together, we can finally find a way to put Drakken down for good." she explained. "Olthar, Argus, Dash, and Junior are all standing by whenever you give the word."

Kim nodded. "Do it."

Vivian switched on the transmitter and brought the headset up to speak. "This is Freedom One to the Four. The torch is lit. I repeat, the torch is lit." she smiled, turning the transmitter off again. "Congratulations, Kim Possible. You've got yourself an army."

Kim gave an unenthusiastic smile and turned to her crew. "Ron, grab Larry. Wade, Dash, and Rufus, Junior. Joss can grab Argus with the Kepler. Warm up the skyscooters. I'll take Ms. Porter to the rendezvous."

"You got it, KP." Ron said, hopping onto one of the rocket propelled, hovering bikes and turning it on.

"You want me to inform Joss?" Wade asked, straddling another bike.

Kim shook her head and let out a quiet sigh. "No, I'll do it."

"You okay Kim?" Ron asked. "You seem kinda down for someone that's about to go all Kung Fu on Drakken."

Kim frowned at him, knowing that going 'Kung Fu' on Drakken would have to take precedence over her personal feelings, as always. "I'm fine, Ron" she replied, offering an assuring smile. She made her way to the cockpit to where Joss was piloting the Kepler with Hana sitting quietly in Kim's command chair, playing with her broken doll. "You need to go pick up Commander Argus, Joss. Coordinates should already be in the computer."

"Yes ma'am."

"Is there going to be a problem?" Kim asked.

"Nope." came her little cousin's reply.

"Joss..."

"I reckon I can handle it, Cap'n." she said, using Kim's honorary rank as an indication that she was angry.

Kim gave a curt nod, tousling Hana's hair. "Be careful, Joss."

"Uh huh."

* * *

Drakken paced back and forth in his throne room impatiently with Dementor standing beside the exit, tapping his metal fingertips together. "Zo even if ze conquering ov Eden Two iz zuccessful, it is ze Fraulein Possible that ztill will be eluding you, no?"

"No, Dementor!" Drakken groaned. "Because when Kim Possible learns that the last safe place for anyone to escape my New World Order is destroyed, she will have no choice but to surrender to my will! There will be nothing left for her to bother fighting for!" he laughed. "Then with her out of the way, I can finally build the perfect robotic civilization on top of the ashes of all those that mocked me! And then, I will finally be the supreme..."

"Lord Drakken." Hephaestus said, interrupting his rant.

Drakken took a deep, irritated breath that resulted in the sound of wind blowing through a steel tube. "What?!"

"Analysis of Eden Two portal has failed."

Drakken's metal jaw hung open in surprise and Dementor let out an electronic snicker. "Verhaps you should not be counting before ZE HATCHING OF ZE CHICKENS!"

Drakken ignored him. "Explain!"

"Analysis requires an up to date, and closer proximity scan." Hephaestus explained.

Drakken placed his gloved hand over his face in frustration and groaned. "How close?"

"Physical contact will be required for an accurate scan."

"Rrrrr! Fine! First, we will find an Eden Two portal. Then we will invade Eden Two. And THEN, Kim Possible will surrender and I can FINALLY remake the world into a robotic PARADISE!" he shouted, out of breath. "Now if you don't mind, Dementor, I have a call to make." he grinned.

* * *

"Drakken's Caribbean lair?" Kim asked, surprised. "I've gotta admit, Vivian; I did not see this coming."

The two woman stood beside the skyscooter on the tiny island, looking up at the dark tower that had been built and rebuilt seemingly dozens of times, and each time after, Kim had wound up destroying it. Every time she was here had blurred together that she couldn't remember the last time she was here, or if she had destroyed it then too. "Neither will Drakken. Rumor has it that once he took over Buenos Nachos, he abandoned this lair. I guess he felt it was too vulnerable to retake as an outpost, sitting out in the middle of the ocean."

"And with no Buenos Nachos out here, it means no Diablo repeater stations. Nice." Kim added. The pair walked pasted the decrepit and rotten 'Turn Back, Haunted' signs that adorned the beach, and up to the wall of the massive tower.

"There should be a door around here somewhere..."

"No big." Kim assured her. "It's easier just to go through the skylight."

"The skyli--" Vivian asked, confused as Kim took her arm and aimed her pistol toward the top of the tower, launching her grappling hook. Vivian was screaming in surprise and fear as she and Kim rappelled to the roof, and struggled to catch her breath a moment afterward, nervously checking the transmitter. "I hope this isn't damaged."

"So not the drama, Vivian." Kim smiled faintly, stepping over to the tower's skylight. The edges of it had been cut and welded several times over the years and now had an ugly build up of metal. Kim touched a combination of buttons on her gauntlet, activating a tiny red laser above her glove that sliced cleanly through the seam of the pane of glass. "There's a reason you and I are still here. Machines will never be more valuable than people." she said, lifting the skylight. "Take it from someone that uses a lot of gadgets. It's always been some one, rather than some thing that's come through in the end."

Vivian frowned a moment, slinging the transmitter onto her back again. "Of course. I guess it's just been my only connection to people for so long..."

Kim's thoughts travelled to her Father and the holographic avatar he had left behind for her. Of how she herself had reacted when she had almost lost him again. "I understand."

They dropped through the skylight into the tower's primary foyer, and it was exactly how Kim remembered it. The surfaces were all a deep red, and large supports adorned one wall opposite a massive monitor that Drakken would use for research or video communications. Through the middle of the room was a moat that was lit with eerie yellow lighting that gave the water a radioactive appearance, with a tiny bridge across it's center. While the water seemed calm, Kim knew it's strong current lead to a sea water resevoir that was designed to attract and trap sharks of all kinds.

There was a thick layer of dust covering all of the equipment, and it was obvious that no one had been here in quite some time, probably before the Diablo War as Vivian said. "If you can find a way to open the front door for our guests, I'll start transmitting our coordinates to the rest of your team." Vivian said. Kim nodded, holstering her pistol with a spin on her finger before walking away to explore the lair at her leisure; something she was never able to do when battling Shego.

Vivian tuned the transmitter to the proper frequencies and connected it to Drakken's monitor once Kim was gone, then stopped suddenly when she felt someone watching her. Slowly, she turned to see the shimmering holographic image of Lord Drakken. "Hello, my dear." he said, grinning.

"What are you doing here?!" she whispered, looking back and forth nervously to make sure Kim hadn't returned. "You're risking everything I've been working for! If Kim finds out you're here..."

"Are you questioning me?" Drakken asked, glaring darkly at the woman.

Vivian shied back, bowing her head. "No, my Lord."

"Good. There has been an unforeseen development. Commander Argus will not be joining you. Instead, this woman has been named the new leader of his resistance cell." he said, pointing to video footage that suddenly appeared on the massive monitor. An African American woman with a head full of raven hair that was tied back to hover above her collar. She was wearing resistance colors in the form of a rusty leather vest, a black button up shirt beneath it and tight tan pants that were bound with laces on either side.

"Monique?" Vivian asked, contemplating the consequences of the sudden shift in personnel.

"Yes. You know her, don't you?"

"I took part in her interrogation years ago. She was strong willed. Mouthy. I didn't know she had survived."

"She was believed to be one of Kim Possible's High School GF's."

"She is going to recognize me the moment she sets foot in this room!"

"That problem is already being rectified. Who has been assigned to deliver her?"

"Joss Possible, my Lord." Vivian smiled. "The traitor."

Drakken grinned. "Fitting, then. I am sending you coordinates to send to her. Shego will take care of her."

"Of course, my Lord." Vivian said with a slight bow. Ever since she had taken the lead position in the robotics department at the Middleton Space Center and discovered Hephaestus, she had pledged her life to the alien forge. She wasn't as power hungry as Fenwick, and had subtlety helped Hephaestus gain more and more influence over the Science Center, then made sure things were in place when It needed them. The digitization machine in the control room when the Diablo War began was one such item. She had spent her life working with and developing robotics, and Hephaestus was like the god it was named after.

* * *

Ron landed the skyscooter in a small clearing and was suddenly assaulted with bright beams of light. "I seek sanctuary in your dungeon!" he said, shielding his eyes.

"It's okay, Varlan. He's here for me." came Larry's nasally voice, and the lights were turned off.

A higher pitched voice with the same nasal tone came out of the dark. "Be careful, Olthar." Ned said with a wave.

"Best vamoose, Olthar. Kim's a-waitin' and she seems a little grouchy today." Ron said as Larry straddled the skyscooter behind him. With a rev of the engine, the flying motorbike lifted off and rocketted away.

* * *

The Kepler slid silently to a stop over a convoy of camoflage military trucks, and every able bodied human in the resistance cell aimed their rifles up at the transport, their hands shaking with tension. Slowly, the entry ramp opened and Joss walked down to the end of it dressed in her battle suit, excluding her helmet which folded into her collar when unwanted. "My name's Joss Possible. I'm looking for Commander Argus."

"Argus is no longer with us." a woman said, stepping out of the shadows with a sawed off shotgun resting on her shoulder. "You say you're a Possible?"

Joss nodded. "Joss." she confirmed. "I'm sorry about Argus. He was a good man."

"I'm Monique. Argus put me in charge. What's this all about?"

"Monique?" Joss asked. "Boy howdy, is Kim ever gonna be happy to see you."

Monique's eyes widened. "Kim's alive?! Really?"

"Come on, I'll brief you on the way." Joss said, offering her hand to help Monique into the Kepler. "Nice gauge, by the way."

"Thanks." Monique replied, giving her followers a peace sign to signal she was safe. "Continue on! I'll meet up with y'all later!"

Joss guided her new passenger up to the Kepler's cockpit and settled into the pilot's seat as Monique took Ron's usual spot beside her. "So Freedom One has set up a meeting with the biggest resistance leaders around the world, in order to bring everyone together under Kim's leadership."

"Forget the briefing, girl! I know Erik got turned into that thing flyin' around, but has she gotten shacked up with Ron yet?"

Joss let out a sigh of pent up tension, grinning at the fact that she would finally have someone to talk to. "No! And trust me, it ain't for a lack of wanting!"

"Okay, girl. Give me all the details!"

Suddenly, the Kepler's radio crackled to life. "Freedom One to Joss Possible."

"There is something about that woman's voice..." Monique whispered, glaring angrily at the speaker.

Joss activated the transmitter to reply. "Joss here, Freedom One. Ready to recieve rendevous coordinates."

"Transmitting." came the reply, and a set of GPS coordinates were fed into the Kepler's navigational computer.

"Thank you, Freedom One." Joss said. "We are on our way."

"Now... About those details." Monique grinned.

* * *

"Oh no, she didn't!" Monique exclaimed as she and Joss walked toward the rendezvous site from where the Kepler was parked and disguised. The coordinates had brought them to a destroyed palace in the Middle East. While the windows and doors had been blown out, the structure itself was sound, though not what Joss had expected for a meeting place.

"She did!" Joss replied, not paying much attention to their surroundings. "I'm not sure Kim even knows what she wants anymore. Ever since Erik wound up being a synthodrone and she lost her Dad, it's like she's on autopilot. Saving the world because she's expected to, not because she wants to."

"I'd better have a talk with that girl." Monique admitted, looking around. "Are you sure this is where the meeting is?"

"We were just waiting until you got here before we started." came a sinister female voice. Joss and Monique spun around to see Shego's lithe, shiny metal form step out of the shadows. From her fingertips, green energy emerged and enveloped her hands. Behind her, the glowing yellow eyes of synthodrones lit up the desert cityscape.

"Shego!" Joss shouted, pulling her pistols from their holsters.

"I knew that Freedom chick was bad news!" Monique said, spinning her shotgun around her finger to ready the weapon.

Shego's glowing hands blocked shot after shot from Joss's pistols as she stepped forward, the solid slugs from Monique's shotgun becoming nothing more than dollar sized plates of metal against her. "Get behind me!" Joss shouted to Monique as Shego's hands began to brighten.

Joss moved to the side to intercept a supercharged blast of green energy, knocking Monique through the entryway of the palace. Shego leaped, hurling a volley of blasts at Joss's position, herding her into the palace as well before targeting the support beams of the building. Synthodrones watched every exit as the palace began to collapse in on itself, resulting in several tons of stone falling on the two resistance fighters.

Shego snickered to herself, brushing her hands together. "One Possible down, one to go. Then her little friends too. Synthodrones, back to the transport!" she ordered, spinning on her heel and leaving.

Several minutes later, and several city blocks away, a wooden door slid aside and Monique pulled an unarmored and barely conscious Joss Possible out from the escape tunnel. "Come on, cowgirl up. I need you to run this Kepler plane before that tacky junk pile gets to Kim."

"Semper Fi." Joss replied with a smile, putting an arm around Monique's shoulders and limping toward where they had left the ship.

* * *

Kim, Wade, Rufus, and their charges, Senor Senior Junior and Dash DaMont, waited in the main room of Drakken's tower with Vivian when the building's proximity alarm activated, and an image of Ron's skyscooter appeared with Larry riding behind him. "Let them in, Wade." Kim ordered, checking the time on her heads up display.

Larry entered first with a crooked toothed smile, taking Kim's hand with what she had learned to be excitement. "Gee, cousin." he said calmly. "This is going to be just like the meeting of the Rebels of Gunthark before the Alliance was formed; which I might add, ruined the Galactic Battlements series since they defeated Klik'Nor shortly after." he snorted.

"Right... Sure Larry." greeting her cousin with an impersonal hand shake. "Ron, any sign of Joss? She should have been here before you."

Ron shook his head and was about to speak when Vivian approached. "I just got a transmission saying the Corporal was tied up, and she'll be here soon, Kim." she said with a smile. "So before this meeting gets underway, I'm just going to freshen up."

Kim nodded, watching Vivian leave. "You getting the same vibe I am, Ron?"

Ron turned to watch Vivian leave the room as well before replying. "I kinda doubt it, Kim..."

She let out a quiet snort. "Men... Stay here." she whispered, following where Vivian had gone. As the door opened with a quiet whoosh, Vivian was still in the hall with her back to the door and looking down at an illuminated device. "Don't you remember Vivian? Girls always go together!" Kim stated, snatching the device from the attractive blond. "A transmitter? Figures."

With an angry glare, Vivian pulled her pistol and put it against Kim's abdomen. "Sorry, Ms. Possible, but Lord Drakken demands that you cease to be a thorn in his..."

Vivian was interrupted by a high yield energy blast vaporizing her weapon and melting the steel grip to the palm of her hand. She cried out in agony, holding her wrist and Kim looked up to see her little cousin holding a smoking energy revolver and being half carried by her high school best friend, Monique. "Corporal Possible, reporting for duty, Cap'n." Joss said, nearly smiling except for her cut lip and swollen facial features.

"It's impossible! I saw you die, traitor!" Vivian shouted, still seething in pain.

"Girl, don't even go there with these two." Monique said angrily, recognition of Vivian coming to her.

Kim took Vivian by the arm and lead her through the door back into the foyer with Monique and Joss following behind. As the guests caught sight of Vivian holding her hand, eyes were raised up to Kim. "What is going on here?!" Dash exclaimed, instantly suspicious.

"Are the caterers here now?" Junior asked from the back of the crowd. "Pappy's meetings always had caterers!"

"It's a setup." Kim said, obvious disappointment and loss of hope becoming evident in her voice. "All of it." She tossed Vivian's miniature transmitter to Wade. "There is no Freedom One, and Drakken's troops will be here shortly."

"This is a short range transmitter, Kim." Wade said. "I'd say we've got five minutes, tops; before this place is flooded with synthodrones."

"Shego's on her way too, Kim." Joss added, taking a seat in the foyer to rest.

"And Erik." Vivian grinned. "None of you will stand a chance! It's the will of Hephaestus that you all be destroyed!"

"We'll give them a fight, won't we Kim?" Larry asked, letting out a sinister snort-laugh.

"No, Larry." Kim replied, shaking her head. "Here's the sitch, people: Joss will take Wade and Vivian in the Kepler. Get her to the Passages where their psych people can do something with her. Rufus, take Junior and Dash. Ron, get Monique and Larry out of here. I'll hold them off."

"Kim!" they all said in unison.

"Joss, can you do this?" she asked. The teenager reluctantly nodded. "Then I expect everyone else to be able to do the same. There's no time to argue, and we can't let Drakken win this one. You all have to escape."

"But..." Ron began, and Kim didn't dare look at him. She knew if she did, they would all be dead.

"Kim," Monique said, stepping up to her. "I just spent the last five years thinkin' you were dead..." she continued, then wrapped her arms around Kim's shoulders. "There are some things worth breaking the rules for. Remember that, girl." she whispered, and after Kim returned the hug, she held Monique out at arm's length and smiled a sad smile.

"Move out, people." Kim ordered, her voice cracking as she watched her team and the other resistance leaders exit the tower. Ron stopped at the exit to turn back and face her, frowning as though wanting to say something. "So not the drama, Ron. I'm a Possible, remember?" she smiled confidently. As he reluctantly left through the doorway, Kim drew her pistol. "Okay Possible, let's see what you're getting yourself into."

* * *

Ron guided his skyscooter away from the tiny island. There were three large transports converging on Drakken's old lair, each capable of holding a hundred synthodrones, and Shego herself was presumed to be on one of them. Ron ground his teeth, frustrated at Kim's order to get the other leaders of the human resistance to safety in as many directions as possible.

The scanner on his skyscooter showed Rufus was being followed by one transport and with both Junior and Dash riding as well, he was narrowly dodging the incoming fire from his pursuer. The Kepler vanished off of his scanner, engaging it's quantum drive, and Ron frowned in disbelief that Joss and Wade would really leave Kim behind.

"Ron!" Monique shouted over the wind. "Where are you going?" Larry sat between the two, looking visibly uncomfortable with Monique's arms around his waist.

Ron looked back at her in confusion for a moment before replying. "Somewhere safe! I don't know... Where's your base?!" he shouted back.

Monique rolled her eyes. "Okay... why?!"

"What? Why?" Ron asked. "Because! Because it's what Kim said to do!"

"Oh!" Monique said plainly, as though it was an obvious answer. "You've really become a good soldier, then!" Larry nodded silently in agreement.

"Thanks!" Ron smiled back, the sarcasm lost in the wind.

Monique risked taking an arm out from around Larry's waist to reach forward and backhand Ron lightly across the back of the head. "She doesn't need another good soldier, boy!"

"Ow! What?!"

"She NEEDS a good man!"

Ron looked forward again, then down at his scanner. Rufus and his charges had managed to escape and the transport that had been following him had turned back toward the island lair. Chances were good that Drakken still had eyes within his old lair, and knew Kim was still in there, alone. He groaned in indecision. "Aw... This is prom night all over again! Look how that turned out!" Monique said nothing, but there was no denying the feeling of her glare boring into the back of his head.

* * *

The sound of weapons fire outside the tower increased, shaking the very foundation of Drakken's lair. Kim put her back to the tower's main door, firing a bolt from her pistol into the door control. "That outta hold'em." she said to herself. Through the use of her heads up display, she tracked each skyscooter and the Kepler's progress away from the island, and none of them showed any sign of slowing.

Suddenly, green glowing fingertips punctured through the reinforced door, tearing through the metal on either side of her. Kim gasped and jumped to the side as the section cut out of the door exploded inward and synthodrones began flowing in. Her battle suit's motion sensors began picking up movement at every entrance to the lair, and a solid mass outside of the tower's walls.

"Y'know what I really hate?" Shego asked as she stepped through the makeshift doorway and spotted Kim behind a pillar.

"Reruns?" Kim asked with a smile.

"Irritating people that just won't go away!" Shego sneered, blasting the top of the pillar away.

Kim dived to the other side of the hall, dodging energy fire and firing several blasts of her own that punched through numerous synthodrones. "Or programming glitches. That get cleared up for ya yet?"

Shego growled and moved like a blur, slashing her glowing claws across Kim's path. Kim fell to her knees and leaned back, sliding through Shego's legs and pressing her pistol against the waist of a synthodrone that was prepared to crush her. As she pulled the trigger, the blast cut down a line of synthodrones and Kim rolled forward, performing a handspring that landed her on the shoulders of another.

Shego spun and slashed, cutting open the unfortunate synthodrone as Kim back flipped over her head to grab an overhanging cable. Using her momentum, she performed a split and curled her body to balance on the taut line. The synthodrones were continuing to charge into the building, and Kim knew she was going to have to begin giving ground.

As a troop of synthodrones opened the door into the main foyer, Kim fired a shot into one end of the cable she was balancing on. A blast from Shego exploded where she had been crouched a moment before and with expert motion, Kim swung on the cable, flashing a smile and giving a salute to Shego as she swept over top of the new crowd of synthodrones. Energy blasts followed her movement, punching into the walls and deflecting off of her armor. Kim twisted in mid flight, shooting the controls that operated the door she just swung through. The door crashed shut on the dozen synthetics, forcing synthogoo to squirt out either side.

Even before she landed, the door began to glow bright green and smoke, melting into a large pile of molten metal on the floor. "Here's Shego!" the synthomech grinned. She lunged forward at Kim with her hands blazing and Kim grimaced, grabbing Shego's wrists and rolling back. The myonetic systems in her suit whined and strained as she kicked Shego away, throwing her through a squad of synthodrones and into a wall that cracked under the weight.

Kim jumped to her feet and flipped over a nearby work table, giving it a kick as she landed, sending the metal platform sliding across the room to pin Shego to the wall and leave a wide strip of a dent across her waist. The first synthodrone only had time to turn toward Kim as she struck it in the head with a strength enhanced kick, then spun with a round house into the next.

She kicked a beach chair that Shego had often used for tanning into another synthodrone that had taken aim with it's rifle, tangling the automaton's legs. The energy blast fired into the ceiling and Kim ran towards it with a shout. One boot connected with the synthodrone's chest, and Kim spun around it, using her other boot to force it into the floor from behind as she landed.

Shego tore the work table in half and flung it to the side, striding into the melée to attack. Kim dodged to either side before a claw strike connected, causing the force field that encompassed her body to shimmer. Recovering instantly and without effect, Kim landed a flurry of blows into Shego's chest before knocking her back with a straight on kick. Another synthodrone wrapped it's arms around her from behind as one more charged from in front. Kicking the second one away with both feet, she swung her legs back and tilted forward enough to kick the one holding her in the back of the head and wriggled free of it's grip.

Two more synthodrones came at her while another fired it's rifle. Taking the wrist of the synthodrone behind her with one arm, she blocked the two closest attackers with her other while intercepting incoming fire with the synthodrone she held.

"Rrr!" Shego growled, running toward Kim with flaming claws. Kim leaped over her, tossing the now drained husk into Shego's face and letting her charge by and dive into the narrow moat. Seemingly dancing through the crowd of synthodrones, Kim knocked down and pierced opponents as she made her way to one of Drakken's chemical tables full of flasks and petri dishes. With a multitude of synthetics chasing her, Kim slid beneath the table and kicked upward, forcing broken shards of glass into the nearest synthodrone.

She leaped to her feet, charging up the console of the monitor in the room with pulses of energy following close behind. The monitor shattered and sparked as she swept by, striking a synthodrone that threatened to block her path with a low punch that doubled it over and sent it tumbling into another crowd. Synthodrones continued to climb onto the monitor and Kim felt the piece of equipment shift. Sending herself into a series of handsprings, she could hear the massive screen pitch forward and collapse onto a dozen more drones that were crushed beneath it.

Shego watched as Kim tore a line through Drakken's synthetic troops, even knocking some toward her that Shego ripped apart in frustration. When Kim turned her back, Shego moved in, slashing back and forth before finally digging her claws into Kim's shoulder plating. But her captive didn't stop her momentum, and instead Kim backhanded her with a gauntlet, denting Shego's face before Kim plowed her elbow into Shego's mid-section multiple times, then flipped the synthomech over her shoulder to throw her once again into the wall.

A running kick fell another synthodrone, and Kim pummelled another that stepped up to attack with a series of punches that eventually burst it's husk. A bolt of energy struck her in the back and Kim grimaced at the impact, sweeping a synthodrone off of it's feet as she moved toward the rifleman. The synthodrone took aim again and Kim grasped the barrel of the weapon, pivoting it as it fired, striking Shego as she stood. She then forced the rifle back and down until the barrel was pointed up beneath the synthodrone's chin and she kicked the handle, setting off the weapon in a shower of synthogoo.

Sparks flew off of Kim's armor as the continually growing number of synthodrones continued their assault, and the battle armor's available power continued to dwindle. She leaped up and onto one of the rooms support ribs, ducking through the holes that formed a path along the outside wall as she drew and aimed her pistol at the skylight.

Shego watched as Kim fired her grapple into the rooms ceiling and swung toward the far wall. "Come back and play, Kimmie!" she shouted, hurling a burst of energy that severed the grapple line. Kim let out a surprised gasp, but used her momentum to dig her armored fingers into the concrete wall as she dropped her pistol. She kicked off from the wall, reaching the skylight and swung feet first up through the opening she had created earlier. Shego looked up at the opening that Kim had escaped through and smiled evilly. "She's on the roof."

Kim looked back through the skylight for a moment to see the synthodrones scrambling to follow her. Some were attempting to climb on top of equipment and other synthodrones, while others were climbing stairs or opening elevator shafts in order to reach their target. She looked out at the rising sun that was cresting the horizon and smiled. If she could just reach the ocean, she might have a chance at escaping and being rescued.

Kim began to stride toward the edge of the lair that she knew overhung the ocean. Her breathing was loud in her ears, and her heart was pounding in her chest as adrenaline began coursing through her veins, automatically engaging the myonetic strength and speed enhancements of her battle armor. The ocean below came into view and Kim knew she had escaped Drakken again.

But then the smell of exhaust and the sparkle of sunlight on blue and black metal alerted her, and Erik caught her around the waist in one arm as her feet left the roof of Drakken's lair. His rocket thrusters died and retracted into his back as he tossed her to the roof in a heap and landed. "End of the line, Kim!"

Kim struggled for breath as she pushed herself up to her hands and knees. The hit had felt like running head on into an oncoming bullet train, and the metaphor wasn't far off. "Power disrupted. System failure." the battle suit told her in it's unemotional female voice before the shiny blue plating faded in a diminishing tone and flicker of light. She was left in her Global Justice uniform, and with a haggard cough, Kim struggled to a swaying stance, only to have her arms grasped by two synthodrones. Without her battle armor, the synthetics might as well have had super strength.

Erik tilted his head to the side and grinned. "Come on, Kim. It's over. You've lost everything. Even your teammates have left."

"End it then." Kim growled.

"That'll happen soon enough." he smiled. "Where's your pathetic sidekick? He abandon you just like on prom night?"

Kim suddenly relaxed her pose, a smile touching her lips. "Actually, he's right behind you."

Erik turned to see one of the immense transport ships gliding quietly toward the roof of the tower with a blue beacon of light standing on top. It's engines were smoking, and the thrusters underneath that usually kept it aloft were unlit. An explosion of fire spewed out of the top of the transport where Ron tore something free.

Kim performed a stationary flip, kicking out to either side to strike both of the synthodrones holding her in the head, then fell to the roof on her back as the transport floated over, mere meters from the top of the tower. It inched closed and Kim turned her head and squeezed her eyes shut as she felt the heat from the damaged engines brush past. The tower shook as the rear of the transport collided with one of the observation battlements that jutted out from Drakken's lair.

Ron was already running toward the edge of the transport when it took an immediate nose dive into the beach surrounding the lair, sending ripples of fire throughout it's hull and causing Drakken's tower to crumble and crack. As the transport split in half to fall toward the ocean, Ron leaped and grabbed hold of the edge of the tower roof with one hand.

"Ron!" Kim shouted, rolling onto her front and scrambling to her feet. Then without warning, Shego burst through the roof with glowing green eyes and blazing fists. Kim was knocked back, feeling the impact of shrapnel across her body.

"Sorry, Princess." Shego sneered, inspecting her claws. "The High School reunion will have to wait. Don't worry though, it'll save you the embarrasment of sharing your failures."

Erik reached down and grabbed Ron by the wrist, lifting him to eye level. "So glad you could join us, Loser." Ron glared and drew his free arm back to strike Erik in the chest, but the Synthomech caught it in his other hand, clenching Ron's fist in his.

Ron's aura brightened, but despite even wearing Toshimiru's Samurai armor, Erik's grip continued to tighten around both his hand and opposite wrist. "Ahhhhhh!" Ron cried out as faint popping sounds began to emenate from his hand and Erik grinned, his glowing blue eyes shining. Ron kicked out, connecting with Erik's face and chest and causing him to stumble back, shaking his head.

"Give up already!" Erik shouted, turning and firing his arm cannons. The burst of energy exploded between them, sending Ron sliding across the roof past Shego and Kim reached out her arm to clasp Ron's hand, stopping him from sliding off the tower. "Now..." Erik said, straightening his neck and stepping up beside Shego. "Maybe you'll see that winning this just isn't possible."

"Kim?" Ron groaned. There were energy burns covering both of his arms and much of his chest and neck, and his aura was fading like wisps of blue smoke being blown away in the ocean breeze. "Is this the end?"

Kim touched her forehead to his, hearing both Erik and Shego's digitization rays unfolding from their right forearms. Was it the end? Her heart was beating fast and hard, but it didn't feel like the normal near death adrenaline that she was used to. This was the feeling she had years ago when she tried asking Josh Mankey to the dance. And when Ron's evil alter ego had kissed her only a few weeks ago. "Deep breath, then take the plunge." her mother had said.

"No, Ron." she said, cupping his face in her hands. He seemed to be on the verge of unconsciousness, his eyes struggling to stay half open. She took a breath and pulled his face close to hers in a deep kiss that caused his eyes to flash open, then close. This time it was her turn to act hungry for more, and she wrapped one arm around his shoulders to cradle him closer.

The sound of Shego clearing her artificial throat reminded Kim where she was and as she began to pull away, she chewed his bottom lip lightly, not wanting to part. Laying Ron down with a mixed look of pleasure and agony on his face, she stood to face her enemies. "This is just getting started."

* * *

"Freedom One has ended." Monique said into the transmitter that Vivian Porter had left behind. She had done her best to understand the controls of the skyscooter that Ron had left her with, and after dropping Kim's cousin Larry off at his own people's rendezvous point, was now on her way to the people Commander Argus had put her in charge of. "But her message of hope will continue with Freedom Two; and if I'm discovered, then there'll be a Freedom Three, and a Four! We're going to continue broadcasting until Drakken's reign is over!"

Monique looked back over the ocean where Drakken's lair was still standing and frowned. "For my first announcement, I'm calling on anyone available to help Kim Possible. She gave her life to save hundreds, maybe thousands, and she could really call in a favor at the coordinates I'm sending to you all now." she said, linking the skyscooter's GPS system to the transmitter. "Good luck, Kim."

Across the globe, humanity listened. They listened to the voice of a woman that was being broadcast over thousands of redundant signal repeaters that were hidden away...

* * *

**Including our dear Commander Argus was meant as an honorific, and if anyone finds it offensive, please let me know and the name will be reluctantly changed. I simply felt he deserved a place as a honorable character that stands for the same things Kim does. Also, a special thank you to Katsumara for editing and revision input on this chapter!**


	18. Revelations: Part One

**Revelations Part One**

As Vivian Porter struggled in the passenger compartment of the Kepler, bound by a set of electronic handcuffs behind her back that tightened as they were pulled on. She spouted words of how Drakken would find them and how useless it was to resist the will of Hephaestus, but the voice of Freedom One reached only the walls of the compartment she was in as Joss, Wade, and Hana were all in the cockpit.

"Okay Joss, the other leaders are away. Now let's snag Kim and get out of here!" Wade said, taking his seat behind the co pilot position.

"We ain't goin' back, Wade." Joss said coolly, maneuvering the Kepler in order to dodge the transport's long range cannons.

"Mind repeating that, Joss?" Wade asked, unbuckling himself from his seat. "Because it sounded like you said you're leaving your cousin behind. I know you two have had your differences, but if you think I'm going to just stand here and let you leave Kim behind, then you're going to have to shoot me..." As Wade approached Joss's seat from behind, her hand smoothly drew one of her pistols and pointed it behind her, directly at Wade. "Or we could talk more..." he continued with a gulp.

"Kim told us to go, so we're going. Sometimes we gotta put family ties to pasture and follow orders, Wade."

"Fine. Then as your Sergeant, I'm ordering you to turn this ship around and go get Kim!"

"That would then defy the Cap'n's orders and I reckon would be a declaration of mutiny, punishable by death. Now considerin' I've got a high yield pistol pointed at yer aorta, I'd stand down."

Wade's eyes widened at the fact that even without looking, Joss knew exactly where her weapon was pointed, down to the specific organ. He imagined his battlesuit might protect him from one or two shots from Joss's energy revolver, but if she managed to land any more than that in the same location, it would burn a hole through his chest. "So what, then?" he asked. "We deliver Dr. Porter to the Passages then sit on our duffs and wait?"

"No." Joss answered, punching coordinates into the autopilot computer. "We're taking Porter with us, then you're gonna wait with Hana while I find out what she knows." she said angrily. Once Wade reluctantly sat back in his chair, Joss holstered her weapon and grabbed the lever that would activate the Kepler's Quantum Drive.

"But Vivian isn't buckled into the passenger compartment!"

"Good." Joss replied as the Kepler catapulted toward their destination.

* * *

"What the Hell was that?!" Erik shouted angrily as Kim Possible stood to face he and Shego, unarmed and unarmored. After he had undoubtedly broken Ron Stoppable's hand and wrist, then blasted him with both energy cannons and nearly sent him reeling off the top of Lord Drakken's old and now nearly destroyed Caribbean Lair, she kissed him.

"What's wrong, kid? Jealous?" Shego asked with a mocking laugh that only served to make Erik even more angry.

Kim was standing between a nearly unconscious Ron and the two synthomechs with fists raised and a steely look of absolute confidence in her eyes that wouldn't be wavered by anything. Erik knew well Kim's look of determination that was a telltale sign that she would try to tear Shego and him apart with her bare hands, or die trying. He had seen it before when Kim had defeated Shego in an attempt to rescue him from Drakken before he had revealed himself as a synthodrone.

Erik ignored Shego however, and stepped forward to look down at Kim. "Are you telling me that after all this time, you're going to settle for HIM?!" he asked, pointing his digitization ray at Ron, who was trying weakly to crawl away.

Kim backed away from Erik to stay out of his reach, staying focused and calm, readying herself in a Mantis style kata with arms raised and knees bent, her hands hanging loosely in preparation. "I'm not settling." Kim said coolly. "Ron has always been beside me, even when I didn't want him to be. He has his faults, but that's what makes him..." she paused, narrowing her eyes at Erik in understanding. "... human."

Memories of Global Justice's last moments came flooding back to haunt her, when she had discovered Erik in their science lab, very much whole and active.

* * *

Kim dived out of the way as the explosion tore apart equipment, the wall that had been behind her, and split the hall outside the room in half, barring her escape in that direction. Immediately, both weapons discharge and fire alarms began raging throughout the base. After throwing herself into a series of hand springs, Kim landed in a low crouch, ready to evade again. "What are you? A new kind of Diablo?!"

Erik scoffed at her. "I'm better." he grinned. "Compared to this body, my old one was thoughtless. Not my own." he said as Kim put her back to the wall of the corridor. She drew a more obvious looking grapple gun than her more customary hair dryer and fired. "Now everything's so clear! And yet there's something in my program I just can't understand. Something from before." he continued, snatching the grapple out of the air as the razor sharp, three pronged hook passed by his head. "So sorry." he smiled.

He yanked on the cable, pulling Kim down to the floor in front of him as she let out a grunt before letting go of the grapple gun. "Drakken didn't build you this time, did he?" Kim asked, looking up at him as some sort of beam weapon unfolded from his forearm.

Erik grinned, aiming his built in digitization ray down at her. "No. I'm the next generation of your father's Hephaestus Project. Hold still. I'll show you."

* * *

Kim shook her head to bring herself out of the memory as Erik aimed his digitization ray at Ron with sadistic satisfaction. With unerring grace, Kim moved forward and gripped Erik's outstretched arm, and even with her outmatched weight against the synthomech's, used his considerable mass to throw him onto his back with a loud grunt. The cement that Erik landed on cracked and lengths of steel rods could be seen protruding from the impact. "I don't need the Centurion Armor to win." she stated, glaring up at Shego.

Shego subconsciously took a step back away from Kim before igniting her hands. She then lunged forward, swinging high with one arm as Kim crouched, then swung low and Kim lifted her legs and fell back, supporting herself on her hands before back flipping, clutching Ron by the arm and diving down the hole in the roof that Shego had created earlier.

As Erik picked himself out of the crater in the roof, Shego looked down the hole that Kim had escaped into. "Mind telling me what that was all about?" she asked as Erik stood up beside her. Synthodrones began collecting around them, finally reaching the roof via unconventional means.

"In fact, I do mind." Erik retorted, scanning the smoky interior of the building. "She can't have gone far and there's no way she can escape the island carrying that loser."

"Fine." Shego sighed. "But once Kimmie's done with, you're gonna have to have a little chat with your Pop about how an unpowered, hundred pound cheerleader threw you to the ground." she laughed as she leaped down into the smoke.

Erik ground his metal teeth and growled. "Don't let Possible get off this island!" he ordered the synthodrones before engaging his thrusters and slowly descending into the tower.

* * *

"Get out of here, Kim." Ron said as Kim laid him against a wall. While she could probably evade Erik for awhile in Drakken's old lair, Shego had lived here off and on for at least three years and undoubtedly knew all of it's nooks and crannies to hide in. "Just leave me some ammo... And some water." he grated, cradling his hands. "Maybe some chips, if you've got any." he added.

"Ron, focus!" Kim whispered, standing and looking about the room. They seemed to be in some kind of den. After a quick run down an unfamiliar hall, an iris had opened and dropped them into a large leather chair that was positioned to face a long cold fireplace. The room had the feel of being a place of quiet contemplation for a reclusive writer or inventor and Kim began to wonder just who Drakken had been between dropping out of college and becoming a villain. "I'm going to find a way out of here."

"Hey, I was just kidding about the leaving me here!" he frowned. Kim put her finger to her lips and sent him a look of irritation before moving away quietly. "Good thinking with the kiss, Kim. Really put Erik and Shego off guard." he whispered.

"I didn't do it as a distraction, Ron. I kissed you because I wanted to."

"You did?" Ron asked, surprised. "You mean Joss was..."

Kim's growl cut him off. "Do not say 'Joss was right!'. I'll be getting enough 'I told you so's' when she finds out." Kim whispered harshly. "Besides, maybe if she hadn't goaded me all this time, maybe..."

"That's getting to be a lot of maybes, Kim." Ron said, struggling to flex his fingers.

Kim gave a heavy sigh, suddenly conscious that Ron hadn't shown any indication of reciprocating her feelings and a deep ache began to form in her chest. It was like Middleton Days all over again. "Anyway, just forget it happened." she said softly, continuing her search for an exit.

"Forget it happened?!" he shouted. Kim moved beside him, clasping his head in her hands with his mouth clamped shut. After a moment, she loosened her grip. "Forget it happened?" he asked again, this time in a whisper. "I can't just forget something like that! It's huge! Life changing even! It could alter the very concept of my reality! It could... Taste like cherries?" he said, suddenly confused for a moment before realization struck. "No!" he gasped "You kissed the evil me, too?"

"No, the evil you kissed me." Kim replied, climbing up to sit on the arm of the leather chair. "I guess I thought it had been a part of the good you that wanted to kiss me. Sorry I was wrong."

"Wrong?!" he exclaimed, earning him another of Kim's annoyed looks. "Sorry... Wrong? Kim, I've been in love with you since High School! Your Dad drove me to BN Headquarters so I could tell you that! If that Diablo hadn't come in when it had, or if I had gotten there sooner..."

"Or if I hadn't left you behind..." Kim added, becoming suddenly aware of the hand life had dealt her that night. She felt as though she could take on Drakken's Empire herself without her battle armor right now after finally opening up to Ron. If she could have known that night that this would happen, would things have been different?

"You've gotta quit blaming yourself for the way the world is, KP. This is Drakken's world, not ours."

"You're right, Ron." Kim replied, a smile threatening to break her long time icy expression. "It's time we take it back!"

"Boo-Yah!" he cheered, then drew in his enthusiasm before Kim could glare at him again. "Now, how are we gonna get outta here?"

"I've got an idea about that." she grinned.

* * *

"I don't get it, Joss. Dr. Porter was a brilliant roboticist, and a decent person. How did she end up like this?" Wade whispered to Joss as he gestured to the dishevelled blond woman that now sat in what passed for a prison cell in the Global Justice base.

"Maybe she liked her robots a little TOO much. She did make herself a robot boyfriend didn't she?" Joss asked, flashing a smirk. "Just think of the attachments that could..."

"Can we stay on topic please?" Wade asked. Both of them remained in their battle armor with their helmets retracted, watching Vivian. "What could she possibly know of Drakken's operation?" he whispered. "Being Freedom One must have kept her out of contact with him for quite a while."

"Soon you'll all know Hephaestus' will through Prometheus!" Vivian shouted. "Those that reject it will meet the same fate as Icarus!"

Hana backed away, hiding behind Wade's legs as Vivian began to shout. Joss pulled a weapon from it holster and charged it. "Take Hana, Wade. I'll see what I can get out of her."

"Joss, wait. I think she's trying to tell us something as it is." Wade replied, putting his arm out to stop Joss.

"What are you yammerin' on about? She's crazy!"

"Weren't you listening? Both Prometheus and Icarus are the final two stages of Drakken's plan!" Wade said, then touched a finger to his chin in thought. "What I don't get is why did she just start acting like this now?"

"Hello? I reckon it's more disinformation. It is kinda her specialty, y'know."

"Or maybe it's the base's jammers. Drakken knows we can detect compliance chips. Maybe he found something else to control her with. Like a broadcast or something. With that gone, maybe she's suffering withdrawals."

Reluctantly, Joss reholstered her pistol and crossed her arms. "Fine, we'll try it your way first. But only because she's probably not gonna survive mine..."

* * *

"Aw man!" Ron whispered, trying to don a rubbery synthodrone husk over top of his armor. "And I thought they were nasty on the outside. This synthogoo is getting everywhere!"

They were back in the foyer of Drakken's old lair, and had scoured the floor in search of two incapacitated synthodrones that hadn't been completely destroyed beyond recognition. Kim shivered as well as the now cold synthetic plasma oozed through her clothing and stuck to her skin like jelly. Erik's footsteps could be heard throughout the halls, only partially subdued by the smoke and rubble that was still lingering. Shego's footfalls unfortunately, were eerily silent. "It's the only chance we've got, Ron. If we can make it to the water, the husks will act as wetsuits against the cold, too." she hoped.

As Kim helped Ron pull the purple and black mask over his head, he looked around the room. "Aren't we a little short for synthodrones?" he asked. "I haven't not filled out a suit so much since my stint as the Fearless Ferret."

"I've seen damaged synthodrones try to patch themselves up after losing some goo. Let's hope the disguise is enough to fool other synthodrones." Kim explained, pulling a mask over her own head and picking up her pistol from amongst the mounds of synthodrones and handing a rifle to Ron.

"Hey!" came the synthesized voice of Erik. Kim and Ron both turned to see his glowing blue eyes shining in the dim room and approach. "I told all of the synthodrones to watch from the roof and make sure Possible doesn't escape!"

Kim and Ron looked at each other, then gave a crisp salute. The synthodrone husks were baggy on their human sized frames and sagged grotesquely as they moved, but Erik didn't seem to notice, or care. Kim stood as straight as she could in the heavy, makeshift suit, and began to lead Ron to where the empty elevator shaft was.

"And get your syntho plasma filled. I need all available units watching the beach in case she slips by." Erik continued.

Kim nodded back to him and proceeded into the elevator shaft where the surviving synthodrones had climbed up to the roof, and disabled the elevator itself by causing it to drop to the bottom floor. Once inside, Ron spoke up. "I can't believe he fell for that!" he whispered, staring up the shaft.

"Must be using infrared to search for us. These husks are so thick, and the goo so cold that they're insulating our heat." Kim thought. "Probably won't last long though. We'd better get to the water fast."

Ron tried flexing the fingers on his broken hand, cringing as he did. "I don't know if I can do this, Kim." he said, frowning behind his mask. "I can barely hold this rifle and I can't concentrate enough to summon my Monkey powers."

Kim put a large rubbery glove on his shoulder, and smiled, lifting her mask to assure him. "If everything goes right, we won't need your powers or the Centurion armor. Just like High School."

Ron reluctantly nodded and Kim pulled her mask down again, aiming her pistol up the shaft and pulling Ron close to her side. "I'd side with you any day, KP." he said as the grapple launched and proceeded to pull them to the top of the elevator shaft.

The ascent was short, and Kim and Ron quietly crept out of the open elevator doors to see that every edge of the towers rooftop was guarded by very real synthodrones. Swallowing hard, Kim approached the group of synthodrones that were watching the cliffs that would lead directly down into the ocean below. She tapped it on the shoulder and waited for it to turn to acknowledge her.

"Synthodrone Seven One Eight Three; what is your status?" it asked after turning and looking down at Kim and Ron.

"Uh..." Kim began in the deepest voice she could muster, not expecting a question. "We lost some of our, uh, synthog- err, plasma. Er--" she began, then stopped as she bit out the next words, "Lord Erik... told us to get refilled and assume this position."

The sound of metal tapping against metal rang out behind them, and both Kim and Ron turned to see Shego in a crouching position atop the elevator shaft, clapping with an unmistakable look of smugness on her hex strewn metallic face.

"Yep, just like High School." Ron commented.

"Nice try, Kimmie." Shego chided as she dropped down onto the roof. "The show started off rather hilariously, but became a real yawner by the end."

"Really?" Kim asked, pulling off the synthodrone mask and letting the rest of the husk slide off. "I feel it was Oscar worthy, myself." Kim smiled. "It was certainly more real than you'll ever be." she continued, pointing at Shego's chest.

"You little!" Shego protested, firing a double blast of green plasma at Kim. Reflexively, Kim performed a split, and the blast vaporized the synthodrone that Kim had been talking to. "You're not getting away this time, Princess! There's no way-- wha?!"

Shego's gasp was matched by Kim and Ron's as a brilliant bluish green light materialized where the disintegrated synthodrone had been standing a moment before. Kim shielded her eyes as the point of light became a line hovering in mid air, then curved and spun like an iris into a large rippling portal with a sunlit ocean and purple sky that contrasted against the black night of the space around it. "Kim!"

"Felix?!" Kim asked in disbelief as Felix Renton stepped out of the portal and offered his hand to her. "What are you--"

"No time, Kim! In or out?!" he shouted. Kim reached back and grabbed Ron's wrist with one hand while grasping Felix's outstretched arm with the other.

As Felix, Kim, and Ron vanished through the spatial tear, Erik burst through the roof of Drakken's tower in front of Shego. "Don't let them escape!" he shouted, aiming both of his arm cannons at the portal as it began to close.

"Sorry, Kid..." Shego said, flattening her energy encased hand and sweeping it across Erik's neck. Suddenly the light in his eyes went dead, and his heavy body fell into the tower below. "But you're taking one for the team!" she shouted, leaping up to kick the synthomech's disembodied head into the diminishing portal before it closed.

* * *

Drakken's metal jaw hung open as he watched Shego decapitate Erik and send his head flying into the portal that Kim Possible and the buffoon escaped into. "Shego! What are you... ?!"

"Hey, you wanted contact? You got it." she replied, blowing streams of green smoke from her fingertips.

Drakken tried to retort but couldn't. While he certainly didn't agree with her methods, Shego did have a point. "Hephaestus!" he called, terminating his connection to Shego momentarily.

"Yes, Lord Drakken?"

"Abort Erik's regeneration cycle of his body and dematerialize it. Allow his head to regenerate instead, wherever it is. Did his contact with the Eden Two portal provide you with the information you require to duplicate it's wavelength?!"

After a long pause that left Drakken nearly bursting with anticipation, Hephaestus answered. "Affirmative."

"You can run, Kim Possible... but you can no longer hide!" Drakken said to himself with a snicker that grew into a full, hearty laugh that echoed throughout BN Headquarters.

* * *

"Okay, Vivian." Joss said, crossing her legs as she sat in front of the bound older woman. "Tell us what Drakken's planning."

"She's not overly subtle, is she?" Wade asked Rufus, who was now perched on his shoulder. The Naked Mole Rat shook his head, letting out a 'Nu-uh'. They were watching a vidscreen that showed Joss and Vivian in the barren room glaring at each other, while a vitals monitor showed several brain wave signals that were being transmitted from electrodes that were attached to Vivian's temples. "These signals are showing two different brain wave signals. One is human, most likely the Vivian Porter we know. The other... I couldn't even venture a guess."

Vivian seemed torn between wanting to speak and struggling to keep answers away from Joss. "The human race will be replaced by immortal, synthetic bodies. Those that resist will..."

"Be reduced to ash. Yeah, I've heard that a few times." Joss said. "But how?!" she shouted, standing up as though ready to back hand the woman. But Vivian's eyes were pleading, as though she hated what she was saying, but couldn't control her own words. The look on Vivian's face sent a chill down Joss's spine and she silently lowered her hand before turning to exit the cell.

"Only Drakken knows how. But all that he knows is... nyugh!" Vivian cried, causing Joss to reflexively spin. The woman seemed to be going into a seizure, convulsing violently as Joss held her head steady.

The vitals monitor in the other room showed the foreign brain wave spiking while Vivian's flatlined. "We need to tranq her, Joss!" Wade shouted into the intercomm.

"Who else besides Drakken knows?!" Joss shouted at Vivian, trying to maintain eye contact. Vivian's eyes had clouded over now however, and were extremely dilated and unable to focus. "Who?!"

Suddenly, Wade burst into the room and pushed Joss aside. As Vivian continued to convulse, he stabbed a syringe full of tranquilizer into her arm and pushed the plunger in. After a few moments, the seizure slowed until Vivian hung her head, unconscious. "I think it's time we take her to Mrs. Dr. Possible." Wade said, turning to Joss.

The young soldier glared at him. "And tell her what, Wade? That we lost Kim, but it's okay. Here's a wack job for ya to slice up and dissect!"

"Joss, you were right before. There was nothing we could have done for them back there." Wade offered. "We just have to hope that they made it out. Kim and Ron have made it through worse..." he began until Joss glared at him again. "Okay, maybe they haven't made it through worse. But remember that anything is..."

"Spare me the line, Wade." Joss stated quietly, backing against the wall and sliding down to a sitting position. "Even if we somehow could get anything out of Vivian, how're you and I gonna save the world?"

He shrugged. "Don't know. But don't forget we've still got Rufus and Hana too. If we have to wait until another generation can fight, then we will." he said, flashing an uncertain smile and offering his hand.

Joss wiped her cheek with a gloved hand, then allowed Wade to help her up. "And who's gonna start this next generation, huh?" she asked with a sniff, a glimmer of her usual slyness creeping back into her features. Wade only rolled his eyes.

* * *

Kim awoke to a tickling sensation on her nose and along her bare midriff, and slowly opened her eyes to see long blades of red tinged grass waving around her in a gentle breeze. The crash of ocean waves could be heard close by, shaking the ground she was lying on, and she lifted herself up to survey her surroundings more carefully. "Ron?"

"Right here, KP." came Ron's voice. "Felix said it was important not to move you until you woke up on your own." Ron slid in beside her, putting her arm around his shoulders to help her to her feet.

"Where are we?" she whispered. "Shego?!"

"No synthomechs here, Kim." Felix replied, appearing on her other side to help Ron in carrying her. "Welcome to Eden." he smiled.

"Eden?" Kim blinked her eyes several times. "But we're on a tiny island. This is Eden Two?!"

Felix let out a chuckle. "No, this is the equivalent of the Caribbean Lair you were just at in this dimension."

"Dimension?" Kim asked, confused.

"Long story." Felix smiled. He and Ron carried Kim to a large bluff that over looked a beach made up of blue tinged sand where an old style Global Justice hoverjet sat and a familiar, black clad woman stood. "Yori's waiting to take us to the colony. Hold tight."

As Kim and Ron slowly climbed into the back of the jet, Kim instinctively cuddled up to Ron's chest and closed her eyes again. There were no sounds of war here. No rubble and past explosions to assault the senses, or people wailing in the war torn streets of a forgotten world. Ron rested his head in Kim's hair that can come loose from it's braid and had taken on a dishevelled, wavy style that parted along the right side like it used to. As the hoverjet warmed it's engines and rose vertically, the couple were already asleep in each others arms.

Yori lifted her eyes to peer at Kim and Ron intertwined in the passenger compartment and let out a quiet sigh. "You okay?" Felix asked from beside her.

Yori looked over at him and nodded curtly. "Yes, Renton-San. I am... okay. It is simply..."

"Awkward?" Felix asked with a grin. "Maybe. But I get the feeling it's good news, anyway."

Yori nodded again, letting the hints of a smile show through. "I believe that Sensei would agree, Renton-San."

"What does Sensei Yori think?" he asked, reminding the Japanese woman of her recently appointed position.

Yori seemed to ponder the question for a moment before answering. "Despite a lingering disappointment for Stoppable-san's choice, I believe that he and Kim Possible have a destiny that must be accepted, and that it is a change for the greater good."

"Good." Felix answered, checking readings on his console. "Because I'd hate to have to duke it out with the Ron-man for the affections of my girl." he smiled as the hoverjet surged forward toward their destination.

Yori covered her mouth as she let out a giggle. "Oh, Renton-San. You and your American style over protectiveness of women."

* * *

Far below the cliffs of the island, in amongst deadly sharpened rocks and the murderous waves that crashed against them, two blue lights ignited and an armored, shiny black and blue arm burst out of the water. It shook with rage, clasping onto the rocks and pulling forth the upper torso and dented head of Erik from beneath the waves. He looked up and watched as the hover jet's vapor trail began to fade, and his innate computerized mind calculated it's trajectory.

* * *

It felt eerie being in the halls of Middleton High again, and Kim couldn't help but hug her knees to her chest, even though she barely fit onto the plastic chair outside of the old infirmary, due to the few inches she had grown since she was lasted seated in a school chair. Every part of the School now had a rugged texture; a result of the building's brief visit back to Middleton and it's corrosive atmosphere. While Ron had gone into surgery for his broken wrist and hand, Kim had listened intently to Felix's tale of the last five years in Eden.

The escape from Middleton had been chaotic as the Diablos that had been deactivated due to Kim and Ron destroying the Buenos Nachos taco sign, regrew with the launch of Drakken's control satellite. The renewed assault on the tri city area sent people into a panic. People like Mr. Barkin, Tara, and Bonnie had escaped during the commotion, presumably leading others to safety, reuniting with their families, or in the case of Bonnie... joining Drakken.

Justine Flanner had had other ideas though, and with the help of Felix's cyber robotic wheelchair, pulled the entire Middleton High School and anyone remaining into this dimension. The move had been risky, but worth it considering the eventual alternative. As time went by, the students and teachers had banded together to set up a colony in the new dimension. From what Felix had told her, the beginnings of a new civilization had been rough for many, and certainly hadn't always been peaceful as politics and egos had begun to make it seem like an episode of some reality show.

Then It had attacked. The artificially grown, dinosaur like creature that Drakken and DNAmy had unleashed a year before had come back and the young colonists had had to unite again and managed to slay the beast. The price in casualties had been high, and the plan to return to Earth had been created, both as a mission of mercy for those left behind, and to recreate a viable population for continued colonization.

It had been an eye opening concept for many of the students, and two factions had come from it. Those lead by Felix that were eager to rescue who they could from Earth, and those following Justine that wanted nothing to do with the dimension they left behind. Both factions had agreed that the utmost secrecy was required, and Felix had conceded that only those that would agree to never return to Earth could come to Eden.

At least until Felix had intercepted Freedom Two's transmission a few hours ago. He had instantly recognized Monique's voice on the radio that one of the people he had come to rescue had had. Now, he would have to face Justine and her Council unless Kim and Ron decided to stay. A situation that, Justine was undoubtedly banking on, wouldn't be likely.

The choice set against her was far more difficult than it had been in Middleton months earlier. Then, all she had to live for was bringing down Drakken and protecting what was left of a world that seemed to do nothing but try to hand her over to Drakken himself.

Now though... now it felt like everything had changed. Like the sun had risen on an endless night. She felt warm, and she felt safe; as though the war that she had been fighting was now won. And yet Joss, Wade, Monique... her mother and brothers were still there and needed her to return, even if it meant Felix being banished back to Earth with them.

The door to the school's infirmary, now turned doctor's office, opened and interrupted Kim's thoughts. She stood instantly, unconsciously shifting her weight from one foot to the other as she waited for Ron to appear. A woman in a blue lab coat and light brown hair exited the room first. With faint freckles and an ever present smile adorning her round face, Kim recognized her as a student from many of her classes, but couldn't recall her name. "Hello, Kim." she said happily, allowing Ron to exit after her. "He's all patched up for you."

Instinctively, Kim moved quickly toward him, then stopped. She bit her lip in awkward uncertainty, suddenly unable to read her best friend that had suddenly become... what? A romantic attachment? A boyfriend? A lover? All of the above or something else entirely. "Uhm, thanks... uh..."

"Just call me Doctor, Kim." the woman in blue said with a friendly chuckle. "Everyone does."

"Well... Thanks." Kim repeated, brushing her loose hair out of her face with the back of her hand. She looked down at Ron's arms, and each had a cast that reached from just below the elbow and around his palms. She took his stiff hands in hers, a smirk playing at her lips as the tips of his fingers tickled the smooth skin on the backs of her hands. "Are you okay?"

Before Ron could answer, the Doctor spoke up. "Oh, he'll be fine in a day or two. He heals faster than anyone I've ever seen before."

"Yeah." Kim said, looking into Ron's eyes. "He is pretty amazing."

"KP, I..." Ron started with a high pitch, nervous stammer that was uncharacteristic of how he had ever spoken to her before.

"Excuse me." Felix interrupted as he approached from down the hall, now sitting back in his wheelchair. "Kim, Ron-man... Doctor." he greeted each of them with a nod, then waited for the woman in blue to retreat back into the office. "Look, this whole council thing is going to take some time. I'd like to suggest that you both take some time to explore the colony a bit. Maybe find a bit of peace before going back." he said with a grim smile. As he turned to leave the way he came, he shouted back toward them. "And just in case you're wondering, your lockers still haven't been touched."

Kim and Ron watched as Felix rolled away, suddenly aware of the dire circumstances they may have just put their friend into.

* * *

"Joss? Where's Kimmie?" Anne Possible asked upon finding her niece. The woman looked around, but only found Wade, Rufus, and Hana in the tunnel of the Passages. Joss's head was low for a moment, and she looked back and forth, as though trying to search for the right words. Anne backed away again as Joss looked up with sad eyes. She hugged her hands to her chest and frowned, her eyes welling up with tears. "No..."

"What happened?" Jim and Tim asked, stepping up beside their mother with worried looks. "Ron's gone too?!"

"We don't know anything for sure." Wade said, stepping up beside Joss. As they all began talking, Hana pulled away to wade into the growing crowd of refugees, and Rufus followed after her, leaping from Joss's shoulder. "We were ambushed and Kim sent us all away to get the other resistance leaders to safety. We haven't heard from Ron either, but we know Monique was with him."

Anne nodded. "We've been listening to her transmission." she said with a sniff, holding Jim and Tim to her sides. "Her first one mentioned a call of help for Kim and coordinates. There's been no more news about if she's been rescued."

"Aunt Annie... I know this isn't a good time but Kim gave us orders to bring the person that trapped us to you in the hopes you can get infor..."

"Or help her." Wade said, budding in. "We don't think it's her fault that she's working for Drakken, but we've done all the scans we can at the base."

Anne Possible's jaw clenched shut and she closed her eyes a moment, steadying herself and smoothing her white, if slightly dirty blouse. When she opened them again, she spoke. "Show me."

Wade lead what was left of the Possible family tree back to the Kepler, and into the passenger compartment where Vivian Porter still sat bound. She had calmed considerably since she first boarded the transport ship, and now sat quietly while still wearing cuffs and a blindfold. "Anne Possible." she said shortly after the group entered the room. "I recognize the perfume. Your husband had it on him one day when he came to the Space Center." she said, smiling slightly. "He really loved you, y'know?"

Joss took a step away from Anne as her Aunt dug her fingers into her palms in quiet rage. "You don't get to talk about James." she whispered. "You get to talk about what happened to my daughter."

"During my time on the Jupiter Mission, I had to work closely with Dr. Possible and his Hephaestus project." Vivian continued. "I had already known about the forge that had crashed and was brought to the Space Center for research. It was how my space probe was built so quickly."

"Get to where Drakken blows up the planet." Joss urged. "How and when."

"After Fen was arrested and I was hired to take his place though, the forge... It reached out to me somehow. It was incredible, and elegant, and... Alien." Vivian was breathing heavily now, straining to continue despite a compulsion to fight against her bonds. "I wasn't what it was looking for though, but that I would make a useful tool. That I would be rewarded if I found what it was looking for."

"And you went along with it?!" Jim asked.

"Like a lost puppy?!" Tim added.

"You don't understand. It's powerful and subtle. It's not like those compliance chips. It's like a computer, overwriting your memories and thoughts like you're just a robot to be reprogrammed until you believe that what you're doing is your own decis-- Ahhhhh!" she cried, going into convulsions again.

Anne surged forward and Joss stepped up beside her while Wade herded Jim and Tim out of the way. Tearing away the blindfold, Anne pried Vivian's eyes open with a set of fingers, she inspected the woman's eyes with a pen light she fished out of her breast pocket. "Her brain's hemorrhaging!" she shouted.

"We don't have the equipment for that on the Kepler!" Joss replied, frantically undoing Vivian's bonds.

"I'll get a stretcher!" Wade said, turning to exit the ship.

"Don't bother." Joss stated quietly. Vivian had already gone limp in the chair, her eyes clouded over with a dark red tinge and prominent blue lines covered her temples and forehead.

* * *

Hana ducked around people with inhuman agility, moving through the crowd as though unobstructed with Rufus following behind, struggling to keep up and not get stepped on. There were several times that the naked mole rat had to stop to get his bearings, only to find Hana scurrying up the curved walls of the tunnel and across the ceiling in order to reach the side. But soon the young girl reached her destination and slowed to a stop next to Tara, who was sleeping uncomfortably in a cot with messed hair and a bulging belly.

Rufus slid to a stop behind Hana, huffing noisily in an attempt to catch his breath. Hana reached out carefully to Tara's stomach, touching her fingertips to the exposed skin between her waist line and the bottom of her shirt. A peaceful smile crossed Tara's sleeping face and Hana recoiled her hand with a giggle.

"Hey!" Josh whispered, looking over top of Tara's sleeping form. His angry look of protectiveness faded when he recognized Hana, and he circled around Tara to place a rugged looking blanket over her. "Hey, kiddo. What are you doing here?" he asked, giving a cursory exploration of the tunnel. "Where's Ron and Kim?"

Rufus climbed up on Hana's shoulder, doing his best to squeak out a lengthy explanation, then gave a sigh when he realized his usual translation devices in the GJ base and his battle armor weren't currently available.

Josh knelt down in front of Hana and smiled. "Are they okay, kid?"

At first Hana shrugged, then nodded. "I like your name."

"Josh?" he asked, confused.

"No." Hana giggled. "Monkey!"

Josh flashed a lopsided smile. "Close enough." he said, looking over at Tara. "Did you feel her kick?" he asked, gently placing his hand on Tara's belly. "Go ahead, she won't mind."

Hana returned her tiny hand to Tara's belly and giggled quietly, feeling minute lumps moving around wherever she touched. "It's not a girl, silly." she whispered. "It's a boy."

"Odds are fifty-fifty, aren't they?" he joked, though his expression revealed his surprise at Hana's certainty.

Suddenly, Tara's eyes shot open and she clutched her stomach in surprise. "JOSH!" she cried, her voice echoing throughout the massive tunnel. "IT'S HERE!"

* * *

Felix sat in his unpowered wheelchair on a large circular floor surrounded by two wooden desks that formed half circles with an exit on either side, separating them. The council chamber itself was relatively small, with only enough seating for the elected members of the council, and standing room only for speakers and visitors. While early decisions had called for the school gymnasium to be cleaned and reorganized into something more useful, Felix and his followers had been adamant that it should be left just how it was as a reminder of what they'd all escaped from. He had never thought that he would be taking the entire building back to Earth to meet Kim and Ron. Behind him sat his closest supporters. The large and intimidating Brick Flagg; the shy yet intelligent Bobby Johnson; Yori, his confidante and Ninja Sensei companion; and Crystal Long, the brown haired architectural genius and former cheerleader.

"Felix Renton!" Justine Flanner arrogantly bellowed from her seat in the center of her faction's desk. "I hear by charge you with breaking Eden Two's most fundamental law!" To either side of her sat her own political followers: Malcolm Neevius, her advisor; the twin cheerleaders Hope and Marcella, whom Justine could sway in her own opinion; and Kevin Guberman, master strategist.

"Would that be the one where I went to Earth to rescue Kim Possible? The one person that has saved all of our lives both before and after the Diablos attacked? That law?" Felix bit back angrily.

"The same law that keeps Eden Two safe." Justine smiled. "Yes. That law."

"I don't think..." Felix began, crossing his arms.

"No, you didn't. And there lies the problem. When you decided to take up this quest of yours to bring people from Earth here, potentially risking our entire world to the same threats that we escaped from, we allowed you to on the promise of absolute secrecy. Since then, you have taken the entire High School back to the acid ridden city we came from. You've accepted an entire clan of assassins into our peaceful community, and now you've brought a team of resistance fighters in that presumably have no intention of obeying our law that states that whomever visits Eden Two, stays in Eden Two." Justine accused, making certain everyone could hear her. She knew full well that she had been the one to create the Kinematic Continuum Disruptor that allowed them to escape, and had made certain no one forgot.

"Do you really think that it would take Drakken long to find us once he had Kim? She's the only one that has the will and capability to bring him down!" he shouted, slamming his fist on the arm of the wheelchair. "Now I don't know about the rest of you, but I haven't given up hope that my mom is still there somewhere and it kills me seeing you people being comfortable in your complacency while everyone we knew is suffering back home!"

"That's enough!" Justine shouted back. "This trial is meant for..."

"Me." he answered, grinding his teeth. "I know. I guess if I were in your position, I wouldn't want to be reminded that we're heading for the same situation the Earth ran into five years ago either. You can bet that if Kim fails, you're going to see plasma raining down here before too long."

"If that's true, then it will be your fault for exposing us." Justine added, her voice shaking. "However, since banishing you back to Earth would only compound the problem, there is only one thing that can be done. The Kinematic Continuum Disruptor must be destroyed!"

The council let out a chorus of gasps, and Justine raised her hand for silence. "You can't do that!" Felix shouted, nearly leaping out of his wheelchair. "What about Kim and Ron, and all the people still on Earth?!"

"Your friends seem to be taking to Eden Two admirably. I'm sure they'll be quite happy here together. As for Earth, it was on it's downward spiral long before our generation had the chance to inherit it. We need to make the one we have now... better."

"Making the world better." Felix said with a frown. "Funny. I heard Drakken's propaganda drones claim the same thing." he said before spinning his chair to exit the council chamber. As he rolled away, Brick, Yori, Bobby and Crystal caught up to him. "Brick, I need you to go to the portal room and make sure no one gets in until we can settle this."

"You got it, Chief." Brick smiled, giving Felix a thumbs up.

"Yori, you'd better get Kim and Ron. If things start going south, we're going to need their help. And let Kim know her battle suit is charged." he chuckled. "I'd kinda like to have my legs back under me." The Ninja Sensei nodded, then vanished the moment he turned away. "Bobby, Crystal. Come with me."

* * *

"No way." Kim said in disbelief, staring at a massive oak like tree that the Eden Two colony had been built around. They had stopped to inspect their old lockers, and Kim had taken her old gym bag for posterity reasons. Exploring the colony had taken a few hours, and had come complete with several awkward moments, such as Ron unable to undo his zipper to go to the bathroom with a cast on each hand. But now, as they both stood and stared at the swaying branches of the massive tree, Kim clutched at Ron's exposed fingers.

"It can't be... Could it?" Ron asked in a whisper. The tree seemed to be taken right out of a children's bible story, complete with fist sized, bright red globes that hung between it's yellow leaves. At least three hundred feet tall and fifty feet wide at it's trunk, the canopy shaded much of the inner ring of the colony with a dark red bark that had grooves nearly a foot deep.

"At least we know why they called it Eden Two." she said, stepping toward the tree and tugging on Ron's fingers for him to follow. "Just don't eat the fruit." she grinned.

"Aw, c'mon Kim! It can't actually be..." he began before spotting a serpentine creature far up in the branches wind along their length and snatch one of the shiny red globes and swallow it whole. "Yeah, okay..." he agreed plainly.

Kim sat next to the tree, leaning her back against the rough trunk and pulling Ron down beside her. Despite studying beneath trees in High school all the time together as best friends, this somehow felt tense now after kissing Ron on the rooftop of Drakken's lair. Ron sat with his knees up and his immobilized hands crossed in front of him while Kim sat cross legged and looking out toward the colony, whistling. "Kim, I..." Ron started, his voice reaching a nervous octave.

"This is..." Kim had started at the same time, then laughed, putting up a hand. "I'll go first." Clearing her throat, she continued. "This is silly, Ron. We're adults and we've been friends..."

"For forever."

"Right. This shouldn't be awkward. Not for us, right?"

"Well the helping me with my pants was a little awkward..."

"But nothing we, y'know, haven't had to do before, right?"

"Well actually, I think it's the first time my pants didn't come off easily..."

"Ron."

"Yeah, KP?" he asked, turning to face her. They bumped noses as Kim leaned in and Ron's eyes widened as hers closed, and she pressed herself against him, feeling her full lips entwine with his. For a moment, she ignored his mumbles and he slid down to a prone position with Kim lying lightly on his chest with her hair tickling his ears. "Mmmm-hmm?" he asked suddenly, hearing the faintest of footfalls coming closer. "Mmm!"

"Ron?" Kim asked, breaking contact. She felt herself blushing as he pushed her away slightly. Was she moving too fast? Did he not want the same things she did? After all of Joss's talk of 'hooking up' and rolling in the proverbial hay, the sudden crisis of war all around them moved to the back of her mind and she actually wanted something for herself.

"Yori." he replied.

"Yori?!" Kim growled, putting her hands on her hips and glaring down at him.

"Yes, Yori. Hello." he smiled nervously and waggled his fingers at the ninja that stood quietly and patiently beside them. The Japanese woman still wore her black outfit, complete with arm and leg wrappings, but her longer hair was now pulled back into a bun and secured with two long needles, exposing more of her face and giving an air of increased confidence that she never had as a student at the Yamanouchi school.

Kim looked up, suddenly embarrassed and a little annoyed at having just been watched by another woman that had once shown an interest in Ron. "Yori! Hi!" she said, suddenly conscious of the fact that she was still straddling Ron. "Uh, what's the sitch?"

To Kim's surprise, Yori didn't seem upset or even disappointed at finding Ron and herself making out in full view at the center of town. "Renton-San has requested to speak with you about a matter of most urgency. Also, he has asked me to inform you that your battle suit is now fully charged and ready to perform at peak efficiency." she said as Kim stood, and helped Ron to his feet.

"Let's hope I won't need it until we get back to Earth."

"I'm afraid that may not become an issue. Ms. Flanner is attempting to destroy the portal device in order to keep Eden Two safe."

* * *

Justine Flanner strode toward the main portal room that had been set up by Felix and his people to welcome refugees from Earth. It lied within the basement of Middleton's High School, and had several emitters of her design strewn about the large room that allowed smaller portals to be opened anywhere on the planet. These had been developed when it had been learned that Eden was the same general size as Earth, and had coinciding coordinates on both planets. The emitters were integral to Felix's plan, allowing him to appear anywhere on Earth in relative safety. Or so he advertised.

With an arrogant smugness, Justine and her followers walked with a purpose toward their destination. Malcolm, her political advisor; as well as Hope and Marcella, a pair of twins that had been Middleton cheerleaders and were now malleable followers; walked with her through the quiet halls of the aging school. The halls were so quiet, in fact, that Hope and Marcella began to slow their pace. "Something's not right here." Hope stated nervously.

"Aren't there supposed to be guards or something?" Marcella asked.

As the group descended a set of stairs that lead to a massive, four foot thick vault door that kept the Kinematic Continuum Disruptor secure, Justine and Malcolm slowed as well. The door had been literally torn off of it's hinges and pushed inward, the light from the portal room shined outward, and the shrill sound of the machine powering up could be heard through the door. "Think Felix tried getting here first?" Malcolm whispered.

"Only Kim Possible and her friend could have done this kind of damage." Justine noted, cautiously stepping through the doorway to peek at the machine. To her surprise though, she saw a shiny black and blue form that was roughly humanoid in shape. It was holding Brick Flagg up in the air off of his feet one handed despite the man's desperate attempt at escape.

A blood curdling crack resonated through the room and Justine let out a surprised cry as Brick's limp form fell to the floor. Erik turned toward Justine and grinned, aiming his already extended digitization ray and activating it.

As Hope and Marcella retreated at the sight of Justine vaporizing into pixels with an electrified scream, Malcolm felt compelled to fearfully step forward into the room to see what had caused Justine to vanish. Immediately, Erik grinned at him and flashed his glowing blue eyes. "Prepare for the fall of man." he said with evil satisfaction as he activated the Kinematic Continuum Disruptor.

* * *

"Lord Drakken." Hephaestus called in it's deep, haunting voice.

Drakken was overseeing the Icarus project, watching synthodrones working continuously as they constructed the massive weapon. Icarus was located deep within the industrial megaplex that surrounded his fortress, completely unreachable by anyone save his own army of synthetics. Within another month, the weapon would be complete, and so would his ultimate plan for control over all that was left of humanity. "Yes, what is it?" he asked absently.

"A window in the spatial continuum has breached our world in Sector Zero One one. Erik is signalling us."

"Launch all transport vessels and deliver all synthodrones on standby!" he shouted, turning toward the elevator that would carry him back to his throne room. There, he could command the battle with far greater efficiency. "Shego!" he bellowed.

"I'm already on it, Doc." the synthomech responded, looking up at the giant tear that hung in mid air. It was the same landscape she had seen Kim Possible escape into, though this was a much larger portal. From seemingly out of nowhere, large black transport ships drifted into formation above her; and hovering tanks coupled with Doom-Vees that were all full of synthodrones surrounded her. "Looks like Erik pulled through."

Drakken grinned as the portal rippled before him in his holographic display. "Go Shego. Digitize those that don't resist. Destroy the rest."

"Let's move!" Shego ordered, leading the synthetic army through the dimensional doorway.

* * *

Kim, Ron, and Yori reached the edge of the inner perimeter of the colony as a loud clap of thunder shook the ground. "Are we too late?!" Ron asked. "Was that the portal thingy going boom?!"

The group stopped and listened, but no other rumble of thunder could be heard. Yori was the first to turn, pointing into the horizon. "No! Look!"

Kim and Ron turned to see a flood of blackness moving across the purple sky like a swarm of insects while the land in the same direction became blackened with an ocean of synthodrones. "Drakken!" Kim and Ron said in unison.

* * *

**Another thanks to Katsumara for help in the creation and polishing of this chapter.**


	19. Revelations: Part Two

**Revelations: Part Two**

"Yori, I'm going to need that battle suit." Kim said, all semblance of personable niceties fading away. The dark mass of Drakken's forces crept closer like a black ooze sliding across the country side, and Kim estimated that they were less than a hundred miles away.

Yori bowed slightly, taking no offense to Kim's sudden abrasiveness. "This way." she said simply, breaking out into a full run into the colony.

Kim followed instantly, though Ron took a moment to notice the two women were gone before following after them. "Hey! Wait up!" he shouted. After a few moments of watching Kim and Yori leap from building porches and onto rooftops in order to avoid the panicking citizens of Eden Two, Ron conjured his aura around himself. As his eyes grew dark and the blue halo enveloped him, so did Toshimiru's samurai armor. The archaic looking armor seemed to come from his aura, materializing out of light and sparkling with a majestic bluish white hue. Toshimiru's blade was the last to appear, apparently strapping itself to his belt as he leaped in a low arch and landed between the two acrobatic women.

"Ron?" Kim asked in surprise. "What's with the armor?"

Ron shrugged. "Don't know, but it's cool, ain't it?!" he grinned.

"Sensei would often say that the ferocity of the Ancients was within you, Stoppable-San. I believe that perhaps this is what he meant." When both Kim and Ron looked at Yori in confusion, she continued. "I believe that Toshimiru has given you his blessing, Stoppable-San. You now have his strength and endurance to aid you in your fight of honor."

"Score!" Ron said, grinning at Yori, then turning to Kim with a shrug. "So you think we can take these guys out, KP?"

Kim shook her head sadly. "There has got to be thousands of troops coming our way. If we can't find a way to send them back, then we'll have to find a way to evacuate Eden Two."

"I agree." Yori said, leaping over an alleyway and practically running up a downspout on the next building before performing a handspring up to the roof. Kim followed with a minor grunt and Ron simply leaped up. "I am convinced that Renton-San has a plan."

"Good. We're gonna need all the ideas we can get." Kim announced, following Yori off of the last building in a swan dive that resulted in a roll to a standing position.

"So Yori... You and Felix, huh?" Ron grinned, now running alongside the two women until they reached the science wing of the old High School.

"Me and... Felix?" she asked in confusion, leading the way toward the lab where Kim's battlesuit was charging.

"Y'know... You're together, right? Dating?" Ron asked.

"Ah!" Yori replied with an embarrassed smile. "I did not realize it was so obvious." she blushed.

"Felix kinda made it obvious." Kim added in. "He's a sweet guy, Yori. He's just proud to be close to you." she said, then suddenly slowed in order to survey the hall they were running through. "Uhm, anyone else notice something funky going on?"

The hallway was eerily empty and dark and as Yori and Ron came to a stop as well, a man's scream resonated through the quiet building, followed by the familiar squeaking of shoes sliding on clean flooring. The trio ran forward into the next hall to see Erik's blue eyes glowing in the dimness as he held Malcolm in the air with one hand and prepared his digitization ray with the other.

Without hesitation, Yori pulled one of the long needles from the bun in her hair and threw it, pinning Erik's free hand to his chest in a blazing light show of arching electricity. The next needle flew as well, embedding itself into the wall where Erik's head had been a moment before as he dropped Malcolm and ducked to the side.

Kim raised an eyebrow and smiled, looking over at the Ninja Sensei. "Yori, you kinda sorta rock."

Yori smiled back and placed her hands together in a quick bow. "Domo!"

"You're too late, Kim." Erik said, pulling the needle out of his hand and tossing it to the side. "Reinforcements are already here. The last safe place for humanity is gone, as it should be. How long are you going to keep fighting a losing battle before you realize you can't win?"

"As long as I have to. Besides, I'm just getting my second wind." Kim smiled as the three of them settled into defensive Kung Fu stances.

"Ron..." Kim whispered. "I need to get to my battlesuit and stop those troops. Can you handle Erik?"

With the sound of metal sliding along metal, Ron unsheathed his sword and grinned. "Ah boo, and yah!" As Kim and Yori continued on to where the battlesuit had been charging, Ron twirled his sword a few times in front of him before preparing himself for Erik's attack. "Ready to be diced, dude?"

Erik glowered at him, clenching his fists as an electrical blue light began to shine through his fingers. "With those casts on your hands, Stoppable? I doubt it." They faced each other for a moment, waiting for the other to make the first move until they both finally surged forward.

Erik's palms lit up with energy, sending lethal blasts down the hall at his target. Ron weaved around each burst, holding his blade low, nearly dragging the tip along the floor as he took a few running steps up one wall, leaped to the other, then spun in a deadly swiping motion then sliced a clean cut across Erik's chest as they met. As Ron's sword followed through, Erik stepped on the blade and kicked it away before narrowly missing Ron's face with a backhand. Ron caught Erik's fist as he swung, then the other as Erik struggled to free himself and they glared into each other's faces, each with blue glowing eyes.

With their fingers intertwined, Erik grinned. "Didn't you learn the first time, Stoppable?" he growled, charging his arm cannons.

"Actually... I did." Ron said calmly, the aura in his hands surging and brightening. They both began to shout as the light brightened until finally an explosion separated them in a flurry of light and blue fire.

Erik was thrown away and slid several feet on his chest before he looked up at Ron, who had also been thrown back, and grimaced. The sword that Ron had been wielding was sunken into a wall down to it's hilt, wisps of blue smoke wafting off of it. He grinned back at Ron, climbing to his feet. "You're unarmed."

Ron threw himself to a standing position, shaking off the now burned and hardened casts that had allowed his wrist and hand to heal. He flashed a cocky smile at the synthomech. "So are you."

Confused, Erik looked down at his hands to see his palms blackened and smoking, apparently shorted out from over contact with Ron's aura. With a growl, Erik moved forward and Ron seemed to flail his arms, moving randomly until he maneuvered to kick the synthomech. Erik stopped, blocking the kick and an exchange of blows ensued as Ron tried to breach Erik's defenses.

Erik continued to slap Ron's strikes away, despite the man's apparently random set of attacks. He blocked Ron's knee with one hand and landed a square punch into Ron's chest, then a straight on kick that knocked him back against a row of student lockers. Recovering quickly, Ron ducked to the right as Erik put his fist through a locker and the concrete backing behind it. He then instinctively dodged to the left as Erik crumpled an entire row of metal lockers with his other fist. Moving quickly, Ron placed a knee strike into Erik's abdomen, giving himself space to move as the attack pushed his adversary away.

Ron continued his assault with a series of chopping motions from various angles that kept Erik off balance and backing away. He leaped up with a kick that struck Erik in the chest, then spun around in mid air to bring another kick across his face that sent him careening into an empty trophy case, shattering the glass and splintering the wood behind him.

Erik glared at Ron with one glowing blue eye flickering intermittently. "Oh, you are gonna pay." he growled, charging forward again.

* * *

Kim and Yori burst into the School's science lab that had been converted into a workshop worthy of most mad scientists. Inside, Bobby was helping Felix to put on his Cyberrobotic Vertebrae Bypass harness while Crystal held up a sensor to Kim's battlesuit blueprint.

"Kim!" Felix exclaimed with a smile. "Glad you're here. We made a few mods to your b--"

"Not now, Felix." Kim interrupted, snatching the thin blue and white body stocking that held the energy blueprint required to create her armor. Turning her back to the crowd, she proceeded to pull the green shirt and blue denim capris off that she had been given when she arrived at the colony, without hesitation.

"Renton-San, Erik is here and has opened a portal to allow Drakken access to Eden Two!" Yori informed the trio, taking their attention away from Kim's half naked form.

"Erik's here, as in in this building?!" Bobby asked, his normally deep voice rising in fear. "But how?!"

"How isn't really an issue anymore." Kim announced, sliding her long athletic legs into the body suit after sealing the top. "Drakken's army is already here. You need to get all of your people back to Earth. Now." she continued, turning around. "Stand back." With the touch of the small GJ emblem on the collar of her body suit, archs of blue and white lightning crawled over her body and an expanding bubbled of energy surrounded her for a moment. Suddenly, the field condensed around her, forming shiny blue plates that were attached seamlessly to the circuit patterned bodysuit. Lightning crawled over her fingers, forming her gloves and lines of electricity encompassed her face and flashed into the targeting reticle that covered her right eye.

The rest of the group blinked, recovering from the light show. "Evacuate?!" Felix asked with a frown. "To... Where?"

"Yori?" Kim asked, and the Ninja Sensei nodded in understanding. "Get your people to Mount Yamanouchi, Felix. We'll meet you there when Ron and I get back to Earth."

"Kim, there are close to a thousand people in Eden Two. Many of which are refugees from Earth and aren't going to want to go back." Felix explained. "And how are we supposed to move that many people, anyway?!"

"I'm about to try and stall a synthetic army led by Shego by myself. Find a way!" she stated with a glare, drawing her energy pistol to make certain it was charged completely. "Now if you'll excuse me, I've got a junk pile to take to the trash."

* * *

"Uyngh!" Tara cried, still holding her belly. A curtain had been put up around the cot she rested on and her long platinum blond hair was caked to her forehead in sweat. "Get this thing out!" she shouted through clenched teeth, glaring at Josh, who was standing against the curtain in uncertainty.

"Aunt Annie!" Joss said, coming out of the curtain to find Mrs. Dr. Possible and Wade looking at Vivian Porter's brain scan printouts. "She's... Uh..."

"How is she dilated?" the brain surgeon asked absently, studying the printouts. "I think you're right, Wade. It certainly looks like her own Cerebellum had been overwritten. Almost like a compact disk. If Drakken has this ability, we could certainly be in a lot of trouble."

"From what Dr. Possible told us, the Hephaestus Project was based on some kind of alien computer that was able to create cybertronic components out of pure energy. It is conceivable that it could implant some sort of biological computer virus that could infect humans the way we write programs to affect computers." Wade replied. "The question isn't so much how that's done, so much as why doesn't Drakken do it more? Rather than use the compliance chips, I mean."

"Hello! Lady giving birth over here!" Joss said, striving to grab the two scientist's attention.

"Could it mean that these viruses could go the other way?" Anne asked. "Could a person literally hack this Hephaestus computer?"

"It's possible. But much like computers battling each other, the one with the greater processor power would win. A person would need so much willpower to overcome Hephaestus's biological firewalls..."

"Yeee-yaugh!" Tara screamed, her voice easily overcoming the thin plastic barrier of the curtain.

"Aunt AnnIE!" Joss screamed as well.

"Keep working on this Wade." Anne said, handing back the printouts. "See if you can come up with some kind of simulation." She entered the makeshift maternity room and immediately shot a disapproving glance at Josh. "So what are you doing?"

"I'm... Uh..."

"The time to take an interest in your child's life is about a year ago. You can't stop now just because things are getting tough. You forfeit that option when you shared a cot."

"Yes, ma'am."

"She's going to need to hear your voice. Not mine." Anne continued, rolling up her sleeves. "So get her attention and when I say push, you tell her to push, got it?"

"How do I..."

From seemingly out of no where, Hana took Josh's hand and lead it down to Tara's. "He's gonna need you." she smiled.

"Joss, is everything ready?" Anne asked. When no answer came, she turned to see Joss still standing behind her, stark white and staring at the scene beneath the sheet that hung over Tara's knees. "Joss!"

Joss shook her head and swallowed. "R-ready..."

"Are you going to be okay, or should I get the mole rat to act as nurse?" Anne asked, gesturing to Rufus, who already had a tiny set of green scrubs on and snapped a pair of tiny gloves over his paws.

"Is that supposed to do that?" Joss asked shakily.

Anne sighed and rolled her eyes. "The toughest set of soldiers left in the world and I get one as a nurse that can't handle one childbirth." Putting her hands beneath the sheet, Anne calmly spoke to Tara. "Give a little push..."

* * *

Erik pushed Ron back with a heavy assault of punches aimed at his target's head that Ron was very nearly unable to parry. He retreated slowly away from Erik's seemingly berserker rage, landing only glancing blows while his aura flashed with each hit Erik managed. Glowing shadows of monkeys loomed on the walls and the darkened recesses of the hallway, as though spectating the battle and howling with each combatant's attack.

As they moved down the hall from where Erik had come, back toward the stairs leading toward the portal room, Ron blocked a series of Erik's punches and leaned to the side for a kick. The synthomech batted his leg to the side hard enough to spin Ron in the air, and struck him in the chest. The blow sent the Monkey Master flying backward and crashing into a wall, dry wall and graduation pictures of classes long past crashing down around him.

Ron raised himself on one arm as Erik strode toward him, his heavy footfalls shaking the glass on the floor. He pushed Erik back with a double kick and landed on his feet, hissing like a monkey before charging forward. Erik caught his first punch and Ron batted his arm away, succeeding in a series of punches that cracked the armor plating covering Erik's chest and ended with a solid hit across his jaw.

Ron pushed his attack, but Erik managed to trap Ron's arm with his own. Ron tried to land a punch with the other, and Erik entwined his arm around that one as well, grinning. He bent his neck to perform a headbutt but Ron pushed away, raising a knee to gather space between them. As he managed to escape Erik's hold, the synthomech stretched out his now free arm in a punch that sent Ron stumbling back.

Wasting no time, Erik continued moving forward again and Ron readied himself in a defensive stance. He dodged to a fro as Erik through his punches, his teeth literally grinding in rage. Ron clipped his cheek with a hooked punch, but Erik seemed to ignore the hit and grabbed Ron's elbow, placing a flurry of punches into Ron's exposed side. A kick into his ribs sent Ron stumbling back yet again, and Ron grimaced. He blocked Erik's next extended punch and immediately struck him in the side of the head with a kick and a series of quick punches that spun Erik around and away.

But as Ron smiled confidently and pressed the attack, Erik turned, taking several hits to his armored chest before making his own strike that sent Ron sailing down the hall and sliding to a stop, writhing in agony as he tried to fill his lungs with air despite several broken ribs. His eyes blazed white as he narrowed them at his attacker, slowly turning onto his chest in an effort to bring himself back into the battle.

"Why do you bother, Stoppable?" Erik asked, walking slowly toward him. "You can't destroy me. You've tried, and failed several times. You on the other hand, although a little more dense, are still a human and can be broken. Which is what I'm going to do to Kim as soon as I'm done with you." he grinned.

Ron slowly climbed to his feet and took in a breath, performing a slow kata before relaxing into a defensive posture and waving his outstretched hand to summon Erik forward. "Over my dead body." he said calmly, a playful smirk tugging at his lips.

Erik glowered at him with a frown. "Well, that is Plan A!" he shouted, charging with a yell.

* * *

The dark shadows of Drakken's transport ships were beginning to cover the ground, and they were barely hovering over the height of the central tree in the colony. The transport ships had been dropping off troops on agile hovering Segway type devices since reaching the perimeter of the colony and the moment Kim exited the High School building, she began firing her pistol. Synthodrones exploded in mid air, falling to a messy spatter on the grass as she took shot after shot, their one person vehicles spinning out of control and crashing into the Eden Two buildings.

A series of shots struck Kim in the back and she shrugged them off with ease, spinning and firing a shot. The blast of energy popped the synthodrone's head like a water balloon and Kim caught the controls of the flying Segway, flipping onto the tiny platform. She began chasing down other synthodrones that were in pursuit of the Eden Two civilians, but a lot of damage had already been done. Buildings were on fire, razed by the transport cannons, and people were being rounded up for quick and easy digitization.

Several Ninja, including Yori, had also managed to hijack the synthodrone vehicles and Kim made eye contact with Hirotaka, pointing up toward the transport. He nodded with a cocky smile, flipped a stick of gum into his mouth, and gestured for his fellow warriors to follow.

Kim smiled. If anyone could capture one of Drakken's massive transport ships in order to get the Eden Two residents to safety, it would be the Yamanouchi students. So long as she could keep...

"Your flight's been cancelled, Princess!" Shego shouted as she latched onto the bottom of the flying Segway. The sudden impact sent the vehicle spinning and Kim fought for control, gasping as it steered toward the trunk of the massive tree. Shego reached up, slashing at Kim's legs with glowing hands as Kim forced the flying Segway to climb, scraping along the hardened bark of the tree.

Still, Shego persisted despite Kim pushing the throttle to it's limit. As the vehicle blasted into the tree's canopy, Shego climbed onto the back of the vehicle and swiped at Kim. Having little room to dodge on the one person hovercraft, Kim fired her grapple launcher and gave the throttle a solid kick before swinging away. Shego back flipped off of the machine as well, landing on one of the several feet thick branches as the machine collided with a steel like bush of leaves.

"Shego!" Kim shouted, standing several feet below the synthomech on another branch. "You want me? Come get me!"

She leaped instantly, throwing blasts of green plasma at Kim's location as she descended and ignited several leaves and branches as she landed.

* * *

Joss struggled her way out of the curtain surrounding Tara's cot and supported herself on a set of pipes that were running the length of the tunnel. Tara's baby had apparently taken a break and wasn't in as much of a hurry to enter the world as Anne had suspected. Without the anaesthetic that would normally be allowed in a childbirth, Tara was in obvious agony and was now running out of enough energy to even scream.

"How's it going in there?" Wade asked, approaching from behind her. The sudden break in her concentration caused her stomach to spasm and she vomited on his shoes as she turned. "Aw... " he said out of reflex, catching Joss before her legs gave out. "That good, huh?"

"I am so swearing off men." she said with a cough as she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. "There ain't no one that's gonna do that..." she said, pointing at the curtain. "To me."

Anne pushed the curtain aside and exited Tara's private area, wiping her hands on a bloody towel. "Shouldn't be long now. She's sleeping for the moment. How are you holding up, Joss?" she asked with a subtle smirk.

"How do ya tune her out, Aunt Annie? It sounds like she's been drawn an' quartered!"

"More like passing a grapefruit, really." Anne said with a light chuckle. "You'll see after it's all said and done that it's worth it. I managed to push out Kim and her brothers! It's no big..." she continued with a laugh, then frowned as the reality of Kim's disappearance came back to them. "I think I'll get some more towels... Maybe some water."

"I reckon Kim's okay, Aunt Annie. There really ain't nothin' she can't make it outta." Joss tried to assure her, then stabbed Wade in the ribs with an elbow.

"Ow! Er... Yeah. Especially since Ron went back for her. According to Monique..."

"Yeah." Joss conceded. "Ron would never let anythang happen to Kim." The thought drew Joss's mind back to her fight with Kim before they had left to find Vivian, when her older cousin had essentially closed herself off completely from the concept of loving Ron at all as anything more than the friend she had known since she was four years old. All because she had pushed too hard, and Kim finally saw through the mask to Joss's hidden infatuation. But Ron would never like her back, would he? Even if Kim perished, he wouldn't quit her. "He just ain't capable of it."

"I know, Joss." Anne said with a tender smile, putting a hand on her niece's shoulder. "I'm glad she had all of you as a team." She gave Joss a quick hug, then guided her back into Tara's cordoned off maternity ward. "Come on now, new life awaits."

As Joss looked pleadingly at him, Wade gave an encouraging double thumbs up until the two women disappeared behind the curtain. He shook his head with a chuckle, knowing he didn't envy Joss's position at the moment, and turned to find Jim and Tim standing before him, each holding a rolled up plastic sheet of blueprints. "Hey guys, what's up?" he asked.

Jim and Tim looked at each other with mirrored expressions of arrogance before answering. "Invictus." they said in unison.

Wade narrowed his eyes at the pair suspiciously. "How did you guys know about that?" he asked, snatching a set of blueprints from Tim and unrolling it. "What do you know about it?"

"Top secret?" Jim asked.

"Please!" Tim continued, waving away the notion.

"We hacked into the Kimmunicator!"

"Then downloaded the GJ base's records while it was plugged in."

"And we know what the Invictus machine might do." they grinned.

* * *

Erik reached out with a chopping motion at Ron's neck and Ron blocked with his shoulder pad before snaring Erik's other arm. Drawing his head back for a head butt of his own, Ron grimaced as Erik tilted forward, and he clenched a fist and brought it up in an upper cut that lifted Erik off of his feet and threw him back.

Ron raced forward as Erik struggled to keep his footing, leaping up and supporting himself on the glowing blue shadow of a monkey tail as he kicked at Erik's face before dropping to his feet. He lashed out, striking Erik several times in the neck until a sparkling light began to show, signalling the synthomech's regeneration system activating. Suddenly Erik batted Ron's next attack away, and Ron followed through with an axe kick that Erik caught in the crook of his arm.

As Ron began to beat his fist into the side of Erik's face, the synthomech let out a growl and lifted Ron off of his feet, throwing him through a wire meshed window and into a wall of steel lockers that crumpled beneath the force of the throw. Ron nearly fell to his knees as he fell from the wall, struggling to stay on his feet. Erik glared at him and smiled, reaching out to take hold of the armored pads that adorned Ron's chest and shoulders. "So you're willing to die for her, are you?" he asked, holding Ron steady as Erik threw a punch that flung the Monkey Master through the torn out vault door that had guarded the portal room. "Well that can be arranged."

The gleaming blue aura that that surrounded Ron flickered like a blue flame in the wind, but refused to fade as he groaned, attempting to pick himself up. The heavy clanging of Erik's footfalls alerted Ron to the synthomech's approach and his arms began to shake as he tried to force himself up. The Kinematic Continuum Disruptor was at full power, sending archs of dispersed quantum streams to the eight emitters in the room that allowed the portal that was funnelling Drakken's troops into Eden Two, to remain open.

Erik bent down to drag Ron by the foot toward one of the emitters as Ron scrambled for purchase with his fingers on the smooth cement floor. "Y'know, Stoppable... Before last night you were just another freak that needed to be ended. A flu bug that needed a cure, so to speak." he said, turning to pick Ron up in a headlock, forcing his face closer to one of the beams. "Now... Well, you're still a glow in the dark freak, but now you're a tool that could actually break Possible once and for all."

"You're taking this kinda personally, ain't ya?" Ron strained to say, pulling on Erik's metal arm that was holding him immobile.

"You don't get it, Stoppable. I was programmed specifically for her. To be everything that she could want! How is it that she could fall for some... thing like you?!" he shouted into Ron's ear. "It's an insult!"

To Erik's surprise, Ron started to chuckle through his wheezing. "Heh! You... you are jealous! Shego... Shego was right! You're jealous that Kim kissed me, but she never kissed you!"

Erik growled and pushed Ron forward, but the much smaller statured man relaxed and let his aura and samurai armor fade, slipping out of Erik's grip. Ron dived beneath the beam as Erik fell forward, his metallic face contorting in horror as he moved through the beam and was broken down into bits of biomechanical cells that seemed to vaporize with a quickly diminishing "Nooo!"

"Ow..." Ron said, lifting his face off of the cold floor after a few moments and surveying the room. Besides the hum of the KCD filling the room, there was no more taunting from Erik, or shattering of glass or breaking of his bones. With a noticeable limp and one arm cradling his severely beaten abdomen, he tore the cables from the small Kinematic Continuum Disruptor that had been aimed at the network of emitters. "Boo-Yah." he stated with a faint grin and a satisfied nod.

* * *

"Finally!" Drakken cheered, watching his army pound Eden Two into dust from the safety of his throne room. "Kim Possible is trapped and the last bastion of resistance is doomed!" he ranted, taking a long, loud, and mostly unnecessary breath. "Now, victory will finally be..."

Two more of Drakken's giant transport hovercraft were partially through the massive portal leading to Eden Two, along with hundreds more synthodrones and assault vehicles when the window into the alternate dimension simply vanished. Both transport ships were sliced cleanly in half, the aft sections falling from the sky into gargantuan fireballs that ignited the multitude of synthodrones below them. The explosion rippled through the outer perimeter of Drakken's fortress, rupturing tertiary dynamos that cascaded around BN Headquarters, sending minor shockwaves into Drakken's throne room itself.

The holographic screen winked out, signalling the complete loss of connection to the thousands of synthodrones already in Eden Two.

"Mine?" Drakken asked before he was sent sprawling across the room. "What was that?!"

"All wireless connection has been lost with Eden Two forces, Lord Drakken." Hephaestus announced.

"Wha... How?! She can't possibly be all that!" he protested.

"Aving zum ov ze problems, Lord Drakken?" Dementor asked in an obviously mocking tone as he entered the door to the throne room.

"Not now, Dementor! I'm busy defeating Kim Possible and ridding my world of the last bit of resistance!"

"Ah yez. I can tell. And are ze explosions part ov ze planning?"

Drakken clenched his fists, pointing a mechanical finger at Dementor that caused the diminutive synthetic to flinch. "I'm going to...!"

"Lord Drakken." Hephaestus called.

"What?!"

"Connection with unit Erik has been reestablished."

"The portal has come back online?!" Drakken asked, hopeful.

"Negative. Unit Erik has been located in Middleton Containment Zone." Hephaestus informed him, causing Drakken to grumble loudly in frustration.

"Fine!" he replied. "Keep scanning for portals! We know where Kim Possible is and this time she won't escape!"

* * *

Kim blocked Shego's punches from side to side, moving backward and feeling the branch they were fighting on began to bend as they grew closer to the leafy canopy. Shego's synthomech body was nearly ten times as fast as her natural one, and her strength had increased a hundred fold, causing significant power losses to Kim's battle armor with each hit. She ducked under a kick, blocked a strike from her left, the right, a straight on punch, then felt the heat from a glowing hand rake across her face, causing her force field to shimmer and spark.

The force of the claw strike caused Kim to nearly topple over a nearby branch, and she allowed herself to fall to her knees and slip beneath the branch, turning and climbing to her feet as Shego dropped an axe kick onto the three foot thick branch, shattering it instantly. Kim retreated further with a series of somersaults that put her out of Shego's immediate reach, and resulted in a hail of plasma as the synthomech gave chase with a wicked smile.

As she landed, Kim instantly dropped into a crouch and swept her leg out, catching Shego's ankles as she approached. Shego dropped, causing the entire branch they were on to shake, and Kim charged away toward a twisted bramble. "Come on back and play, Kimmie!" Shego shouted, leaping to her feet as she followed.

The shaking of the branch became more intense as Shego neared and Kim took hold of a thoroughly entwined pillar within the tree, swinging around it and planting both feet into Shego's chest. "Newsflash, Shego. "I've still got game." Kim grinned as she dropped into a roll and stood, keeping up the assault against her target as Shego continued stumbling back and making only off balanced ripostes against Kim's flurry of punches and kicks.

At the edge of the branch as it began to narrow, Shego stepped forward against Kim's attack, catching her outstretched leg. Immediately, Kim switched tactics and began pummelling Shego's face with a series of right hooks until Shego flung Kim's leg into the air in an effort to unbalance her. But Kim used the momentum to perform an outstretched backflip, again giving Shego a high powered kick to the chest. The attack knocked Shego away momentarily, but Kim dropped to her back, nearly sliding off the increasingly narrow tree.

Shego snickered evilly, recovering quickly and proceeding to kick at Kim's face and chest in an effort to knock her off. Holding on by digging her armored fingers into the wood, Kim did her best to block Shego's under handed attacks and rolled toward her. Engaging the battle armor's myonetic enhancements, she stood up and hefted Shego onto her shoulders.

"Wha?!" Shego gasped. Before she could react, Kim threw her off and backed away toward a thicker part of the tree, breathing heavily. Shego climbed to her feet, grinning. "I'm impressed, Princess. You're showing off some new moves. What else have you got?" She slashed over Kim's head as the Captain backed up against the trunk of the majestic tree, and four deep gouges were burned into the thick bark. As Shego used her momentum to spin, she followed through with a round house kick. The myonetic enhancements of Kim's battle armor engaged as she leaped up to the next highest branch, feeling the impact of Shego's attack ripple through the tree as it cracked the bark, and set the thick sap that bled out ablaze with green flames.

Green fire filled the cracks in the tree's bark, racing up the thick trunk and forcing Kim down the length of the narrower branch she was on. "Threat encountered at six o'clock." announced the female voice in Kim's suit and she rolled forward, twisting as she did. The lamprey like maw of a giant snake snapped shut only inches from her head.

"No kidding!" Kim growled, backing away toward the trunk of the tree again. The snake eyed her hungrily with dual slit eyes, winding it's way around the massive branch as it cautiously moved forward.

"I think it wants that bright red fruit you call a head, Kimmie." Shego commented as she leaped up to Kim's level. "Looks like you've got a few problems." she continued, nonchalantly approaching Kim.

Kim narrowed her eyes at Shego intermittently between keeping track of the snake that was hunting her. She knew her position wasn't particularly favorable at the moment. Battling an alien anaconda and a synthomech in the burning branches of a several hundred foot tall tree was certainly something new for her and she looked down at the ground surrounding the majestic tree. The synthodrones that had made it into the center of Eden Two were acting erratically; shooting anything that moved, including each other. Even the Doom Vees and hover tanks were circling out of control until running into something.

Kim looked through the burning leaves of the tree with renewed hope to see that the rippling light of the portal that had allowed Drakken's forces into Eden Two had disappeared. "Looks like your reinforcements just ran out, Shego." she smiled as an immense shadow began to loom overhead.

Shego turned away and narrowed her eyes at where the portal should have been, then raised her gaze to the transport ship that was quickly descending, pushing burning branches out of the way as it began to crash. She growled, turning to face Kim again only to find her surroundings go dark as the giant snake swallowed her whole.

Kim was dropping through branches, relying on her armor to protect her from the smaller branches as she tumbled through and around the larger ones like a professional gymnast. Leaves and branches were beginning to fall around her as the transport ship continued to collide with the tree, sending deadly spears of wood whipping by. "Not so fast, Princess!" Kim looked back to see Shego diving after her, scratched, dented, and bloodied; throwing blasts of plasma from her hands, leaping from branch to branch in an effort to catch up to Kim.

Kim drew her pistol, taking aim at the trunk as Shego drew closer and the great tree began to topple beneath the weight of the transport. The grapple launched and drove into the wood, tightening the cable for only a moment before a blast of green plasma severed it. She gritted her teeth as she spun in midair in time to collide with Shego and break through the lower canopy of the tree.

As the gap between the massive tree and the ground narrowed, Shego continued to slash at Kim viciously with her claws without any concern for the inevitable impact. Kim struck back with closed fists, resulting in Shego's armor denting heavily. 'Okay, Felix.' she thought, her Heads Up Display reacting to her situation and offering solutions. 'I hope you gave me something good for Christmas.'

As the display scrolled through the armor's features, it highlighted a new option and Kim grinned, shifting her focus back to Shego. The synthomech woman latched a glowing hand onto Kim's gauntlet, her clawed fingers burning five strips into the shiny blue armor. "You won't be getting away this time, Kimmie!" Shego shouted, struggling to put Kim between herself and the ground.

Kim curled up her legs and activated her myonetic enhancements as she put her feet against Shego's chest and pushed. Shego's claws tore large gouges in her gauntlet as her grip on Kim slipped. Watching the power level in her suit diminish as the gauntlet reformed, Kim activated one of the new mods that Felix's team had installed in her battle armor. A thin white film extended from the sides of the suit, catching the wind and causing Kim to practically stop only twenty feet from the grassy surface of the ground, and she began to glide in a spiral as Shego impacted, leaving a distinct impression below.

The tree continued to topple beneath the transport ship that was now becoming impaled on the thicker branches, it's various systems beginning to rupture and explode. Kim sailed low across the grassy surface with her arms and legs spread, the cybertronic film acting just as the squirrel suits that she and Ron had used before. With her eye on her target, Kim dipped low and opened a hand as she swept beneath the falling tree, snatching the back pack she had left there earlier and allowing the tremendous shockwave of the tree striking the ground to push her out of harms way.

"Kim!" came Ron's shout from the streets of the burning city. He was stumbling out, holding his chest with one arm and the KCD in the other, coughing from the smoke that was surrounding the area. "Over here!"

Kim leaned skillfully, letting the base jumper wings retract as she got nearer and rolled to a standing position in front of Ron. She embraced him in a hug and planted a passionate kiss on his lips that no longer felt awkward, or forced. Somehow, he had managed to close the portal, cutting off Drakken's wireless connection to his troops. Although it hadn't been soon enough to save Eden Two, he had saved most of it's populace. "I'm so glad you're okay!"

"Me too!" Ron replied, then shook his head, stammering. "I mean, you too... I mean.."

Kim put a gloved finger to his lips with a smile. "I get it." she assured him, looking into his brown eyes. "Come on. Felix is gonna need this." she said, taking the KCD and helping Ron toward the remaining black troop transport that was slowly descending to pick them up. Felix and Yori could be seen in the cockpit of the craft, wearing saddened expressions as the image of the crushed, burning city of Eden Two reflected in the windshield.

* * *

"Somethin's peekin'!"

Anne rushed in at Joss's exclamation through the curtain that was keeping Tara's labor as private as possible in a giant concrete tunnel and sat down on a rolling stool at the end of Tara's cot, placing a gentle hand beneath the sheet. Tara herself had awoken again only a few minutes ago, waking Josh as well who had fallen asleep in his chair, clasping Tara's hand while touching his forehead to his mate's as he shared her pillow.

"Okay Joss, it's not going to be much longer so be ready with a few clean towels." Anne stated, nodding to Josh to encourage Tara to begin pushing.

"Good." Joss said in relief. "I don't know how much more of this I can take." The comment resulted in an angry glare from Tara between strenuous screams of agony. Joss only grinned back in embarrassment as Tara let out another series of rhythmic breaths, twisting Josh's wrist and clenching her eyes shut with a whimper.

"You're doing well, Tara." Anne said, almost absently. "Every time you feel a contraction, you need to push, okay?" Josh repeated the instructions and Tara nodded, clenching her abdominal muscles in an effort to push the child out. "Just a little more..."

Joss couldn't help but raise her point of view from the tiny form that was beginning to protrude from between Tara's legs, to the loving looks in Josh and Tara's eyes. Memories of how her own father; 'Slim', as her Uncle James used to call him; had looked on her with love. Slowly, the reminder of the good things that humanity was capable of trickled through the dark shell that had been erected through the few years of being one of Drakken's soldiers.

Even if Kim and Ron couldn't admit to their own, Joss could finally see that there was still something intangible to continue fighting for. Maybe a future for her as something more than a freedom fighter, too.

"Yeee-Yeaaaaagh!" Tara cried and Josh looked as though he would be crying shortly too as Tara clamped her hand around his.

"We've got shoulders..." Anne announced, giving a gentle tug before the rest of the baby came sliding out easily in a mess of amniotic fluid. "And a boy!"

Joss frowned as Josh cheered and Tara began to both laugh and cry as the strength in her arms left and she collapsed back onto the build up of pillows on the cot. She unfolded a towel with robot like movements, cradling the child in her arms while Anne cleaned him off. "Is he gonna make it?" Joss asked in a whisper, barely audible over the baby's strained cries. Her throat was constricting, and speaking was becoming difficult. "Here, I mean."

Anne smiled back, but was unable to answer, instead busying herself with clamping and cutting the boy's umbilical cord and wrapping him in several soft blankets. "Go see." she finally managed to say, offering Joss the opportunity to bring the boy to his parents. "I'll go tell the others."

Joss nodded, cradling the infant with a nervous smile as she handed him to Josh. It seemed like forever since she had even seen anything so helpless and innocent, and the last thing she had seen was a new colt on the Lazy 'C' Ranch before the Diablo War. "Thank you, Joss." Tara said as Josh carefully placed the boy in her arms. "For helping."

Joss shook her head, blushing. "But I didn't really do..."

"You, and Kim, and the rest... You're making the world safer again." Josh said with a lopsided smile. "You do plenty."

Joss heaved a breath and squeezed her eyes shut before replying. "Thanks. But... I don't know how to say this, but Kim's..."

Suddenly, Wade poked his head through the curtain with a hand over his eyes. "Joss, suit up! The Kepler just received a message from Kim! She's at Yamanouchi!"

Joss paused for a moment, a smile spreading her lips as she turned back to Josh and Tara. "Apparently a really good swimmer!" she finished, backing out through the curtain. "Rufus! Mission mode!" she called, noticing the naked mole rat scurry through the cheering crowd. "Hana! You comin'?!"

The little Japanese girl seemed to appear in front of her, causing Joss to let out a surprised yelp. "I need to stay." she said simply, running past Joss and through the curtain surrounding the new parents.

"I reckon we've all got our part." Joss said to herself, watching the shadows through the curtain before continuing into the Kepler. "Fire it up, Wade! Let's get my cousin back!"

* * *

Kim had stood outside the base on the cliff side in the cool air shivering for quite a while in a new Global Justice uniform, thinking of the past day. Her argument with Joss and eventual apology, Vivian's betrayal, death, and the cryptic information she provided were drifting in and out of her mind as she watched the darkened skies. Foremost however, was the sad loss of Eden Two. While not as peaceful as the rumors had made it seem, it had been a true haven for people to escape to. It had been destroyed because Felix rescued her and Ron though.

Ron. Perhaps the one thought that all the others led to. Her best friend from Pre-School to Junior High School. Her mission partner from then to less than a week ago, and now...

Now what were they? She frowned at the question, recalling her advances at the base of Eden Two's tree. He had seemed reluctant to continue, and yet he had admitted to having feelings for her for years. Until their relationship was sorted out, the other situations would have to wait.

_I can't see the stars anymore living here._

Now, Kim was standing in front of the mirror in the bathroom attached to her bedroom. Their time in the GJ base had been mostly informal, and anything that she couldn't say to individuals in front of the other teammates, was said in the privacy of her room; so it had not been unusual to anyone when she had wanted to talk to Ron in her room.

_Let's go to the hills where the outlines are clear._

She had nearly been ready to quit fighting and settle down with Ron in Eden Two. The shades of grey in her life had dispersed and unblurred. Everything had seemed clear there. What she wanted and what she could accomplish. It had almost felt like she had been home again for a moment.

_Bring on the wonder. Bring on the song._

She opened her old gym bag she had rescued from Middleton High and took out several items, laying them out around the bathroom sink. Her makeup kit, she opened and applied a modest touch of blush and eyeliner, hiding the tired rings beneath her eyes and putting a thin layer of her cherry red lipstick on as well.

_I pushed you down deep in my soul for too long._

Her cheerleader uniform came out next and Kim smiled to herself, feeling herself blush at her own intentions. She pulled on her bloomers and blue and orange skirt, then slid the shirt on as well, frowning slightly at the fact at how well it still fit. 'The Possible Curse.' her mother had called it with a chuckle when Kim had complained about being a late bloomer as a tween. Having a small chest was something she had accepted about herself, but now found herself wondering if Ron had even ever noticed.

_I fell through the cracks at the end of our street._

"Kim!" Ron called, entering her room. "You here?!" he asked nonchalantly.

"In here!" she replied through the bathroom door. She hurriedly pulled her long, full hair through her shirt and ran her hands through it in an effort to muss it up. She looked herself up and down, shrugging at using her high school cheerleader uniform as a spur of the moment lingerie, hoping it would stir memories in Ron of the feelings he started with.

_Let's go to the beach, get the sand through our feet._

"What's wrong with the lights?" she heard Ron ask as the door to her room slide closed. She turned off the light in the bathroom, taking a deep breath to calm her nerves. Confident she had mastered her nervousness despite the pounding in her chest, she opened the bathroom door, leaning on the door frame.

"Hey, Ron..." she said in a low voice, smiling shyly at him.

"K..." he choked, adjusting the collar on his uniform. "KP..." he stammered nervously, his brown eyes searching her up and down. "I...."

_Bring on the wonder. Bring on the song._

Kim approached Ron slowly, taking one of his hands in both of hers and standing on her bare tiptoes to reach her lips to his. "Ron, I know you said that you loved me since High School... I'm just, well... I guess I want to catch up on things."

"But Kim, I've never... Y'know..." he said, his cheeks blushing as he rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand.

Kim kept herself from chuckling, and smiled awkwardly. "I've never been with anyone either, Ron. It's not like I've ever given myself time for a relationship to get anywhere..."

"No." Ron said, sitting on the foot of Kim's bed. "What I mean is... Or actually..." he said, looking away in embarrassment.

_I've pushed you down deep in my soul for too long._

"Ron, what is it?" Kim asked with a frown, sitting down next to him.

"I... I never took Health Class!" he belted out, burying his face in his hands.

Kim looked at him in confusion. "What does that have to do with... Oh." she said, realization coming to her. "And your parents never...?"

"Are you kidding, KP?!" he asked, looking at her with frightened eyes. "I'd half expect them to barge in right now, saying 'This is our way of telling you.'!"

"So you don't really know..." Kim began and Ron shook his head. "And you've never even seen..." Again, a head shake. "Spankin'..." she said with wide eyes.

_Bring on the wonder. We got it all wrong._

* * *

Wade stood grinning at the Invictus machine in the depths of the GJ base and wondered just how much of Ron had been in control of his alter ego. Going over the plans for the device with Jim and Tim, the twins had looked at the schematics from an entirely new angle. While Wade had assumed that the evil Ron would create some sort of weapon or instrument that would further his goal of renewing Nacos in the world, Jim and Tim looked at it as an instrument of causing chaos. Which is exactly what a global scale Silicon Phase Disruptor would do for Drakken.

_We pushed you down deep in our souls for too long._

* * *

Joss and Rufus sat around a computer monitor, tapping fingernails and waiting impatiently for the other teammates to arrive for their usually scheduled movie night. "That's getting to be a long meeting Kim and Ron are having, ain't it?" she asked, and the mole rat nodded. "I guess a lot happened in Eden Two."

"I would imagine." Rufus's translator stated with his chirping.

"Hey, Uncle James?" she asked into the air, causing the hologram of James Possible to materialize in the center of the bank of computer terminals.

"Good evening Joss. What seems to be the problem?" the man smiled.

"Mind telling the rest of the team to get back here? Rufus and I are waiting to start our movie!"

"A moment." he replied, closing his eyes and giving a whistle. "Oh dear..." he suddenly said with a surprised look.

* * *

_I don't have the time for a drink from the cup._

Ron was lying on his back in his boxers, glowing with a faint blue light and a whimsical smile on his face. One hand was placed on his chest and holding Kim's hand. His other arm was wrapped around Kim's shoulders, who was lying beside him, still dressed in her cheerleader skirt. Both of them were sleeping soundly, exhausted from the crisis of their battles and dimensional hopping.

_Let's rest for awhile, let our souls catch us up._

* * *

_Bring on the wonder. Bring on the song._

Wade was now hunched over a work desk with blueprints stuck to his face and notes scribbled on every writable surface. In his hand was a pen that had written phrases such as 'Freeing the people', 'No casualties', and 'Zero Compliance' on one side of a chart, and phrases such as 'Need Decoy', 'Revealing Position', and 'Enough Power?" on the other side in a Pro - Con list of possible outcomes of activating the Invictus machine.

_I pushed you down deep in my soul for too long._

* * *

_Bring on the wonder. We got it all wrong._

James Possible looked down at Joss, who remained slouched in one of the desk seats with her hands folded over her midsection and Rufus curled up on her warm chest, rising and falling with her breathing.

_We forced you down deep in our souls for too long._

* * *

Drakken glared at his two synthomechs as they stood before him in his throne room. Erik was standing at attention, his armored shell pockmarked and burned from the acid atmosphere of Middleton where his pieces had been scattered. His dimensional jump through the emitter beam had been drastically unfocused and anything living would never have been able to recover from being transported, piece by piece, through the space - time continuum.

_Bring on the wonder. Bring on the song._

Shego stood there as well after having to wait nearly a week in the alternate dimension until Hephaestus could fashion a new portal device. The synthetic army she had gone to Eden Two with had turned on itself the moment the connection to Hephaestus had been lost, and the sudden aloneness and abandonment had caused her to begin questioning her existence and metal immortality. She had been in paradise, filled with the sun and surf she had loved, but could no longer feel in her new body.

_I pushed you down deep in my soul for too long._

"Hephaestus, set all remaining units on defensive." Drakken said, leaving both Erik and Shego alone in the room. "In three weeks, Kim Possible will no longer matter." he continued, allowing the throne room door to close behind him.

* * *

**A big thank you to Katsumara for being a beta, offering advice, and picking out the various typos that seem to litter my work. **

**"Bring on the Wonder" is performed by Susan Enan and Sarah McLachlin.**


	20. Flame Street

**Flame Street**

"I can't believe this!" Joss exclaimed quietly as she walked between Wade and Kim, dressed in a long sparkling black robe with technological symbols that glowed in various colors. "You and Ron go away for two days into another dimension, and come back acting like a couple o' mole rats in heat? And I get to find out by finding you having a simultaneous boy's and girl's night out?!"

"Joss, shut!" Kim whispered, keeping her black hood concealing her face. If not for trying to remain unrecognized in their surroundings, than to hide her reddening complexion. For several years, her and Joss had been the only two women in the Global Justice base, and Kim had given her younger cousin an open invitation to enter her room when she wanted to talk or felt the need to spend time together. Unfortunately, while trying to keep her relationship with Ron from Joss in an effort to avoid the inevitable drama, she had forgotten to rescind the invite and Joss had caught the pair in an especially passionate position.

"So how long have you been spankin' the Monkey Master?" Joss asked nonchalantly.

"Joss!" Kim nearly shouted, turning to her younger cousin with a dark glare. But Joss only grinned.

"Hey, you're not the one with your cousin's reddened tush burned into yer..."

"So why hasn't Drakken plowed this place down to dust yet?" Wade asked, eager for a change in topic. Ron was following behind the group with Rufus hidden in his own black robe, and was acting as though he couldn't hear Kim and Joss's whispered conversation.

The place he was talking about was Tech City, a mocking nickname for the United State's former Capitol City of Washington D.C. It was a hollow, metal shell of what it had once been, yet still bustled with people trying to scrape out a living in the broken world. There were night clubs and strip shows, food huts and drug bins that dealt in neural charges which were an addictive cybertronic surge introduced directly into the human mind through electrodes. The particular area of Tech City that Kim and her team had come to for information had been nicknamed Flame Street, and for good reason. Barrels of fire lined either side of the street where the homeless citizens warmed themselves and used them for light. Neon lights adorned every building, flickering in the night and giving the neighborhood the appearance of being engulfed in flames from the outside.

"Drakken needs the interface in the city to gather information from outside BN Headquarters. From what we know, it operates on a kind of Rogue's alliance." Kim explained. "It also acts as a form of psychological attack against the American people by leaving Washington as a ghost." Drakken also kept a military presence in the city in the form of armed synthodrones on every corner, to make certain the human populace didn't get ideas of revolution.

"Can't we take these Techno Monk robes off yet?" Ron asked. "They're kinda itchy."

"Listen to him!" Joss said, rolling her eyes. "He's not out of the hay for ten minutes and he already wants to strip down again."

"Jo..." Kim began with a growl.

Suddenly, a large blond man with hair running past his tattooed shoulders and a greasy handlebar moustache running over and around his mouth stepped out from an alley way. "Hey! You dudes lookin' for some brain charge?" he asked. "Cause Motor Ed has got your plug. Seriously, I do!"

Kim panicked a moment, doing her best to pull her face back further into her hood. If any of them were recognized here, it could spell the end of their mission quickly. At the beginning of the mission, the disguises seemed fitting. Techno Monks were looked on by the technologically savvy the way geeks used to look up to Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, or even Wade himself. She hadn't expected meeting someone that actually knew her here. "We're here to meet with someone named Mind Singer." she said, deepening her voice as much as she could.

"Ah, dude, seriously? You're scopin' for some mega voltage kinda charge then. Seriously. Just let Motor Ed take you where you need to go. Assuming you've got the cash." the overly hairy man said.

"Seriously?" Joss asked.

"Seriously. You want transport, you've gotta pay up! Seriously, you do."

"Techno Monks barter." Wade announced, stepping forward but keeping his face hidden. "You should know that."

"Dude! I'm like totally into the trade off system! Seriously! If you've got somethin, show it off, dude! Show it off!"

Wade pulled some kind of gadget that Kim didn't recognize from his robe and held it out. "This is a pneumatic charge distributor. It..."

"Distributes the ignition charge pneumatically?" Motor Ed asked, his eyes brightening. "Ah dude, seriously!" he shouted before falling to his knees in a heavy metal air guitar riff. "Yah-yayayaYAyayah!" Flipping up to a standing position again, he swiped the contraption out of Wade's hands and inspected it. "Seriously, dude. Follow me, and I'll take you to the Mind Singer. Seriously!"

Motor Ed gestured for them to follow, and he led them to a highly modified three wheel ATV with an elongated, easy rider style front wheel and a shiny, flaming paint job. Behind the odd looking vehicle was connected a four seat trailer. While it didn't look exceptionally comfortable or safe, it would get them to where they were going. "You sure about this, Kim?" Ron asked, taking a seat next to her and across from Wade in the trailer as Motor Ed started the bike. "You do remember this guy kidnapped me the first time we met him. What if he recognizes us?"

"So far, I think we're safe." Wade said, raising his voice as the bike's engine fired up and a dozen exhaust pipes that stuck out from the rear blew out black smoke over the team's heads. The team let out a coughing fit as the exhaust surrounded them and Motor Ed revved the bikes engine again before the large, balloon like tires spun on the cracked pavement. The passengers lurched, holding onto the trailer as the group began speeding down the street.

The trip was mostly uncommunicative as the noise of the bike was far too loud for anyone's voice to be heard. Instead, it consisted of Wade working on a PDA, Ron watching the strangely dressed crowds in the streets, and Joss silently interrogating Kim by holding her hands apart in a variety of 'This big?' gestures that was met with embarrassed glares from Kim.

Fortunately, the ride was short, and Motor Ed slid the three wheel motor bike to a stop outside of a particularly loud nightclub, pitching Kim and her team forward with the sudden stop. Rufus especially was taken by surprise and thrown out of Ron's hooded robe to slap with a squeak against the back of Motor Ed's seat. Leaping off of the bike, their driver began striding toward the crowded nightclub door, waving his arm for them to follow.

Climbing out of the trailer; Kim, Wade, and Joss moved to follow while Ron scooped up a stunned Rufus and tucked the naked mole rat back into his robe. Moving quickly, yet as gracefully as Techno Monks were known to be, they caught up to Motor Ed as he shouldered and pushed his way through the rave that was going on in the building. A few of the hallucinating party goers attempted to fight back, but it only took a few moments for them to recognize their attacker and either back away or blame another for their sudden loss of perceived rhythm.

"KP." Ron whispered, stumbling past Joss and Wade and nearly tripping on his robe.

"Ron! Mysterious and graceful, remember?" she replied out of the corner of her mouth.

"Sorry, Kim." he said with a frown. "I'm just really not liking this plan."

"We need to get onto Drakken's network." she explained. "If what Vivian tried to tell us is true, then we don't have much time before Drakken puts his final plan into motion. If what she said is right..."

"I know." Ron nodded, looking down at the filthy, sticky floor for a moment. "But why's it gotta be you? Shouldn't Wade be doing it?"

"Ron..."

"I don't want to lose you, Kim. Not now. Especially not to that Hephaestus thing."

"Which is exactly why I'm the one that's going in. I can't put someone in there, knowing what could happen. Besides, if something DOES happen,Wade's the only one that'll be able to get me out."

Ron nodded again with a heavy sigh, stealthily digging his hand through their robes and clasping onto Kim's. She smiled back, then let go as they passed through a back door into some sort of computer lab. Steel stairs led down to a torn leather dentist's chair surrounded by cobbled together computer equipment. At the head of the chair was a metal band that was covered in electrodes, cables, and indicator lights. Ron cringed instantly. "Everlot..."

Motor Ed let out a loud whistle, then turned toward the door. "She'll be right out. Be prepared for a totally rockin' trip, man. Yeah-yahyayah!" he screamed out, banging his head and strumming an air guitar as he left.

"She?" Wade asked.

"That's right." said a voice from behind a curtain. A young Filipino woman entered the room, looking the team up and down. "Got a problem with that?"

"Zita!" Ron exclaimed in surprise.

Joss smacked a hand to her face, grumbling. "Thank you, Mr. Incognito. Ain't there no blood left in yer brain?"

Zita Flores cocked her head slightly, as though processing Ron's voice. "Ron?" she asked cautiously. "Ron Stoppable?!"

Kim let out a sigh, pulling her hood back and shedding the black robe to reveal her Global Justice uniform. As the rest of the team followed her lead, she stepped forward. "I guess if you're Mind Singer, then we need your..."

Zita wasn't paying attention though, and climbed the steps from her lab to take Ron in a tight embrace. "I didn't believe it when Freedom Two said you had made it out of the Caribbean alive!" she said, leaning in for a kiss.

Kim put a hand against Zita's chest and pushed her away. "We're not here for pleasure, Zita. Are we, Ron?" she asked coolly as she glared at him. Ron only grinned nervously. "We need into the Net. People say you've got the best equipment. Can you do it?"

Zita looked longingly at the boy she had ignored in High School. He seemed oddly confident now, and stood straighter, as though he had finally found something that he had been searching or waiting for. But she picked up on Kim's cold demeanor instantly, knowing Ron was now off limits. She nodded. "Yeah, I can get you online. Why?"

"You get some of Drakken's human troops in here sometimes, don't you? A little escape from the compliance chips?" Kim asked, crossing her arms.

"Sure. Keeps them from getting too trigger happy around here."

"I want the information you glean from them while they're logged in."

Zita seemed to think about this for a moment before smiling. "That kind of trade could get me in a lot of trouble with the local troops, Kim. Normally, it would cost a small fortune. But since you're old High School buddies, I'll cut you a discount." she grinned. "One night with..."

Before she could finish the sentence, Kim flung a leather sack that had been in her utility belt onto the chair below them. It rattled and burst open slightly, revealing gold coins that had been in the Global Justice base as a means of universal currency should it be needed. "You don't want to finish that sentence."

"There's enough gold there to build more than a dozen high quality circuit boards just like what you've got running here." Wade said. "I'd say that's enough."

Zita nodded with a sigh, looking into the bag and inspecting a coin. "So it is. Too bad." she said, flashing Ron an indifferent smile. "Okay, Kim... Come have a seat."

* * *

Motor Ed exited the night club, looking over his shoulder as he walked down the street toward his bike. The rave inside the building was continuing loudly and no one had followed him out, especially the disguised Techno Monks. He grinned to himself, turning the ignition that revved the engine of his transportation and activated a communication screen installed just below the handle bars. "Hey Cuz!"

Drakken glared up at the holographic display in his throne room as his greasy lowlife of a relative, Edward Lipsky, came into focus. "What do you want, Eddie?" he asked with a growl. Even with the entire world nearly under his control, he still had to deal with annoying family. It just wasn't fair.

"Dude! Red and her crew are here in Tech City, trying to get their hands on some tech. Want me to tell your troops?" Motor Ed asked.

"Red?" Drakken asked, confused for a moment. "Wait... Kim Possible is there?!" He paused for a moment, his grin broadening. "She must be after the interface!" he declared, clicking his metal heels. "Oh, this is delish! Hephaestus!"

"Hey, Cuz! What about my energy cells?! Seriously, Dude! I need those!" Motor Ed shouted into the comm screen.

Drakken glared at him for several seconds before his scowl turned back into a grin. "I'll tell you what, Eddie. You do one more thing for me and I will give you one of the many dynamos that powers my fortress to do with as you wish."

"Aw, seriously Dude! That rocks so hard! Yeah!" Motor Ed wailed, nearly falling off of his bike.

"Hephaestus, I require you to connect with the network in Tech City." Drakken said, taking a seat on his command chair.

"It is done." the alien computer said, it's haunting voice filling the chamber.

"Excellent." Drakken grinned, and a set of cables snaked their way from his command chair and up his mechanical arm, plugging themselves into the metal ports on his right temple. "Shego! Take a contingent of synthodrones to Tech City and make certain that Kim Possible does not escape. But leave her to me." he laughed, his synthesized voice booming before the virtual network overcame his senses.

* * *

"You know how to handle yourself in the Net?" Zita asked, adjusting equipment as Kim laid down in the chair with Ron and the others looking on.

"I'm a quick learner." Kim said, leaning back. "How do I get out once I've found what I'm looking for?"

Zita strapped down Kim's wrists and ankles to the chair and adjusted the metal band that would descend around Kim's head. "There will be a visible doorway that you'll have to go through to log out. If we unplug you before you do that..."

"I'll become a raving maniac?" Kim asked, recalling the lab mouse that had been experimented on when she and Ron had first encountered the Immersion Caps and the virtual world of Everlot.

"If you're lucky." Zita said. "Otherwise you'll just be brain dead."

"Lovely. Anything else I should know?"

"Everything that goes on in there has to do with willpower. Think about what you're looking for, and you'll be drawn to it. But stay away from the mainframes. They've got countermeasures and firewalls that'll burn your brain out." Zita said in all seriousness. "Other than that, you're good to go." She lowered the band down around Kim's head and all expression left Kim's face, her eyes glowing a bright yellow. "Okay, she's in."

"Now what?" Ron asked.

"We wait." Wade answered. "I have to admit that an old keyboard and mouse would be safer, but it would take years to get the same information she could probably get in seconds."

"Yeah. Too bad all it took was having an alien computer infect the Internet with it's cybertronic technology."

* * *

Synthodrones began flooding the streets of Tech City, kicking over people's possessions and pushing anyone out of the way that didn't resist. Those that did resist were few as the first line fell quickly, lying in smoking piles. Behind the relative army of yellowish glowing eyes of the synthodrones were a pair of glowing green eyes that moved gracefully through the city toward Flame Street.

Shego walked calmly down the street with the army of synthodrones surrounding her. The local lowlifes of the city scurried away as best they could in their drug induced hazes, and some even began to quiver and scream with their passing, undoubtedly due to horrible hallucinations that were making the menacing army look even more terrifying.

It wasn't long before Shego arrived at the night club where Kim and her team were rumored to be hiding, and she ignited her hands in green flames, sending an intense inferno at the double doors, blowing them in. "Last call! Everyone out!" she laughed. People wearing high collars, heavy chains, tight pants and large sunglasses came pouring out of the building screaming, and Shego shook her head in disgust. "Ugh. Get sucked into a computer for a few years and fashion goes right out the window..." she said to herself before raising her voice. "Hey, Possible! Come on out!"

* * *

Ron was the first to turn toward the door leading back to the club with a confused look on his face. Joss raised an eyebrow at him quizzically, then gasped as his aura burst out around him, bathing the room in electric blue light before condensing into Samurai armor that carried the same glow. "Contact!" she shouted, and the building shook with a concussive shock wave that emanated from the club.

She and Wade both touched the GJ buttons on their collars, resulting in the blinding, thunderous cacophony of their battle suits powering up. Rufus leaped from Ron's shoulder and touched the button on his own collar, resulting in his robotic body appearing as a wire frame, three dimensional image that filled with excited lightning before transforming the energy into superdense metal and servos. As it completed it's formation, the face of the suit split open to reveal the naked mole rat sitting in a cockpit. He let out a short series of squeaks and the suit's loudspeaker activated automatically. "Let's rock."

"I'm reading one Synthomech and a whole party of drones surrounding the building." Wade said, reading the heads up display on his helmet visor.

"Come on." Joss said, drawing her pistols. "We'll need to buy Kim some time until she finds what she's looking for. Take up positions in the club and don't let anything get back here."

As the group made their way into the newly evacuated club, Motor Ed slipped in through the door behind them and hooked a crowbar into place, securing himself into the backroom with Kim and Zita. "Hey babe." he said with a crazed grin, leaping over the steel railing to land on the floor beside Zita. She moved to grab a pistol from her workbench, but Motor Ed drew his own large revolver from his hip. "Calm down, babe. Seriously. I'm just here to make sure cousin Drew gets to have his fun with Red without someone loggin' her off. Seriously, I am."

"For what? Don't you know what she's trying to do?" Zita asked, narrowing her eyes at the larger man.

"Seriously? Yeah, I do. Seriously." he replied angrily. "You know what cousin Drew is tryin' to do? He's gonna give us all rockin' hardcore bodies like his minions! I am so gonna do mine up in hotrod red, with some gold highlights maybe. Oh, and some totally awesome chrome pipes, too! Aw, babe, it's gonna rock! SERIOUSLY! Yeah!" he shouted amidst the energy weapons going off outside, while hammering out an air guitar riff.

"You're crazy!" Zita said, standing her ground between Kim and Motor Ed.

"Maybe I am, babe. But I'm the guy with the gun." he said, pulling back the hammer with a thumb. "Seriously!"

* * *

Kim felt herself falling through a tube of electricity, winding around like a roller coaster before tumbling onto an invisible floor that seemed to stretch forever in every direction. She shook her head to clear and looked down at her hands to find she was in her battle armor, with it's blue plating glowing with a neon tone. "Spankin'." she commented with a smile before surveying her surroundings.

"Okay. Think about what you're looking for and you'll be drawn to it." she recited, closing her eyes to concentrate and focus on the symbols they had gotten from the Niner synthodrone a few months earlier. When she opened her eyes again, the four symbols surrounded her, appearing as glowing digital forms that were cracked an missing pieces.

"Styx..." she said, identifying the first symbol as the drug that had turned Larry and his crew against each other, as well as Ron into an evil mastermind alter ego. "So foiled that one." she smiled.

"Charon..." she continued, turning to the next symbol. This project had been meant to bring out an entire army of synthomechs, but thanks to her and her team's interference, only resulted in a bio mechanical rendition of Shego to be created. Kim frowned slightly, narrowing her eyes at the thought of Shego. "Foiling still in progress."

Turning to the last two phases of Drakken's New World Order, Kim looked at each carefully. "Icarus and Prometheus. Let's see what you have to say for yourself."

Suddenly, a blast of energy came out of the distance, striking Kim in the chest and sending her sprawling across the invisible floor and away from her goal. "Kim Possible, you think you're all that!" came the familiar cackle of Drakken that she recognized instantly. "But I am! Mua-ah-hah-ha-heh!"

Kim leaped to her feet, staggering slightly as she struggled to regain her breath. Her chest plate was still smoking, the burned hole that was showing the blackened battlesuit blueprint slowly regenerating. "How?!" she shouted. "You can't feel pain here! It's just an illusion! It's impossible!"

Drakken grinned, waving a gloved finger as the red beam of light coming from his optical eye ran across her. "Uh-uh! If I recall, anything was possible for a Possible. Besides, I've had Hephaestus increase the cerebral feedback. If you die here, so does your body!"

He raised the fearsome looking pistol that he held in his mechanical hand and fired again. This time, Kim was ready for the attack and performed an acrobatic routine of flips and handsprings, drawing closer to her attacker as he continued to fire. Finally, she rolled to a stop and drew her energy pistol, putting the barrel against the set of indicator lights on his chest. "Let's see if it works both ways!"

But with each pull of the trigger, only a click resounded and Drakken batted her away with ease. "Bah! You just don't understand! It requires will and thought to perform here. Not muscles and quickness." he laughed. Kim shook her head and took a breath, charging toward Drakken again. With his single mechanical hand he blocked her attacks, moving with surprising swiftness before snatching her throat and lifting her off the floor. "Your weapons, your suit, even your fancy shmancy Kung Fu are nothing without the will to back it up, and you don't have the will to destroy me, do you?" he laughed. "Afterall, what would your father think if he knew you destroyed his old college friend?"

Kim was using all of her strength in an effort to break Drakken's grip on her neck, but the sudden mention of her father caused her to shout out and kick, her boot connecting solidly with Drakken's head. He dropped her in surprise and stumbled back as Kim turned to run in search of the mysterious door that would allow her to escape. "Where there's a will..."

Instantly, Drakken was in front of her again as she turned and he glared down into her increasingly fearful eyes. "For you, there is no way!" he exclaimed, stepping forward and causing her to step back. "Travel is at the speed of thought, Kim Possible. You can't run, and you can't hide!" he laughed as Kim turned away to escape again.

* * *

Joss fired each pistol out through a window, destroying a synthodrone with each one before ducking back. A fury of red energy bolts cut through the window with unusual precision for such an assault. "They could have leveled this place already! What are they waiting for?!"

"Shego's holding back." Rufus stated plainly, firing his energy cannon through the club's blown open door.

"We need a distraction!" Wade said, ducking back from the same window Joss was firing from.

The sound of steel sliding against leather drew their attention to Ron as he drew his glowing katana from the sheath on his belt. "One Stoppable distraction special comin' right up!" he said, running through the door. The incoming fire from the synthodrones suddenly centered on Ron, and he began to dance and dodge rather than move forward, and a burst of green energy struck him in the chest, throwing him back through the doorway. "Ow."

"Come on out, kiddies! I'm waiting for you!" Shego shouted from outside.

"Kid?" Ron asked, seemingly insulted. "I'll have you know I've been a man for nearly a week now!" he shouted back.

"Ron..." Joss said with a frown. "Too much info."

"Oh... Right." he laughed, suddenly embarrassed.

* * *

Kim fell on her chest after another bolt of energy struck her in the back. Drakken's aim seemed uncanny and effortless, as each shot was accompanied by his customary evil laugh that echoed in Kim's ears. Letting out a grunt, she strained to push herself up. "Poor Kimberly-Anne." Drakken laughed. "I expected more from you than to watch you lay down and die, though it doesn't disappoint me."

"You can destroy me, Drakken." she said, looking up into his red mechanical eye. "But you won't break me!" Kim leaned to the side, supporting herself on a hand as she assailed Drakken with a series of kicks that he managed to block easily.

"Your poor mind simply can't grasp the genius of my plan, can it?" he asked, grasping Kim's leg and tossing her back to the floor. "Here, I can make you doubt your own mind!" he grinned. The invisible floor and endless space gave way to the command room of the Global Justice base, and Kim found herself sitting in her usual chair. "So this is your little hideout? A little cramped, but it does the trick, I suppose."

"You'll never find it, Drakken!"

Drakken placed his hands on the arms of Kim's chair and leaned in close. "Who's to say I haven't already? Perhaps I stripped it from your mind and it's already been destroyed." he laughed, turning away for a moment as he steepled his fingers. His grin widened and he looked back over his metal shoulders. "Perhaps you're already a prisoner in my fortress!"

Instantly, the surroundings changed and Kim found herself standing in what she could only guess was Drakken's throne room in BN Headquarters. The blue skinned cyborg sat in a large metal command chair with a wicked grin, his glowing red eye shining in the dim light. There was equipment lining every surface of the room, and a dizzying amount of controls on each arm of the chair, directly beneath Drakken's fingertips. "This can't be real!" Kim shouted, tightening her fists.

"Of course it is, young Kimberly-Anne. You must have known you couldn't run forever." he chuckled. "You... Or your friends." Drakken grinned, his metal teeth shining in the darkness as he pointed toward a door that opened to the side. Behind it, Joss, Wade, Rufus and Ron were being held limply by Shego and Erik. Kim watched as Ron slipped to his knees, then fell onto his chest, dead. "You can't save them." he continued as Kim's breath began to rush. She turned back to Drakken with rage in her eyes, but Drakken paid it no mind. "Just like you couldn't save your father."

Drakken's laughter was cut short as Kim charged him, striking him in the chest with a double fisted strike that sent him stumbling back. Again their surroundings shifted, back to an empty space. Behind Drakken floated the four symbols of the New World Order plot, spinning in place. "You're finished taking lives away from me, Drakken!"

"No!" he shouted, looking around in a panic. "What's happening?!"

"Lord Drakken." The disembodied voice of Hephaestus called. "She has broken the cybertronic link. Her will is too strong. You must destroy her."

"No! It's impossible!"

"Did you forget who you're dealing with, Drakken?"

"It's true, Drew." said Dr. James Possible as his form appeared behind Kim.

"Dad?!" Kim asked, trying to keep her heart from jumping as she looked back.

James stepped up beside his daughter, dressed in the white dress shirt and grey slacks he had worn the night BN Headquarters had been destroyed. "Hey there, Kimmie-Cub. I'm glad you're all right." he smiled, taking Kim in a fatherly hug. "But you, Drew... We used to be friends, back in college. Now I'll admit that I, Chen, and Ramesh did do some unnecessary teasing, but is that worth destroying all of civilization for?"

"I'm rebuilding civilization!" Drakken shouted. He extended his mechanical arm and a strip of weapon barrels began coursing out of a compartment in his forearm and forming a ring around his wrist. James pushed Kim away and a burst a red energy streamed out of Drakken's chain gun. James vanished into nothingness as Drakken raked the steady beam across where he had been standing.

Kim jumped to her feet, glaring at Drakken as she moved her arms in a Bak Fu Pai kata, smoothly and calmly settling into a ready stance. Drakken narrowed his eye, retracting the laser chain gun back into his forearm. With an angry yell, he charged; the fingers on his mechanical hand elongating into serrated, buzzing claws. "I'm going to enjoy this!"

Kim ducked low as Drakken swiped over her head and she spun around him, landing blow after blow with no effect. She leaped high and twisted, putting a myonetically charged kick in his back that caused him to stumble forward. "Maybe you should ask yourself, Drakken." she said, standing. "Did I conjure up my father? Or was it your own conscience?"

"Rrrr!" Drakken growled, turning and swiping at Kim's head again.

* * *

"We can't hold out here much longer!" Joss said as a piece of concrete disintegrated out of the wall where she had been taking cover. "We're gonna hafta end this stand off soon!"

"What is taking Kim so long in there?" Rufus asked in the monotone voice of his translator.

Wade took an energy blast to the chest, nearly knocking him off of his feet. Diving to the side to allow the more heavily armored Rufus to fill the doorway, he scanned the room. "There is a lot of heavy industrial grade electronics in here! I might be able to rig up a localized EMP explosion!"

"Let's pretend that I don't know what that'll do." Ron said with an embarrassed tone.

"It'll fry anything electronic in the area. Shego, the synthodrones... even our suits and Kim's link to the Net if it's not shielded." Wade explained.

"Question." Ron said, shying back from the numerous holes that were being blown in the walls of the building. "Why haven't we used this before?!"

"Because there's no gaurantee it'll work on synthogoo?" Wade replied.

"Wonderful." Joss said, rolling her eyes. "Okay Wade, get to it. We'll try buying you some time."

"What about Kim?" Ron asked with a frown.

"Don't worry. Your love bunny'll be back and wearin' out yer sheets before we're done here, I'm sure." Joss said with a smirk. "Now let's kick some steel!"

Ron leaped out first, swinging his glowing katana and deflecting energy blasts away as he charged toward the center of the synthodrones where Shego stood. Joss rolled out next, firing both pistols, one at a time and destroying synthodrones that had turned to focus on Ron. Soon after, Rufus shambled out through the doorway as well, firing his hip mounted energy cannon and knocking groups of synthodrones into the air.

Ron let out a grunt as he swung his katana at Shego, then overstepped as she stepped easily to the side and laughed. "So you're a man now, huh kid? Little Kimmie finally give up the jewel when she decided you're about to be the only guy left on the planet?" she chuckled. "Or did you settle on Possible Junior over there?"

Recovering quickly, Ron struck back with an elbow that Shego blocked with her forearms. "Kim had plenty of choices..." he said, his voice sounding doubtful.

Shego raked a glowing claw across Ron's back, causing his aura to flare and Ron to cry out in pain. "Sure! She could have let any slug come out from under a rock have a good time in the sheets."

"No!" Ron shouted, spinning in the opposite direction to bring his katana around in a stabbing motion that would have plunged it through Shego's midsection.

But Shego had already moved, blurring slightly as she did. She put one hand on the hilt of Ron's weapon, and elbowed him in the nose calmly. "Aw, does the truth hurt, kid?" she asked in a pitying tone. She tore the sword from Ron's grip and threw it blade first at Rufus, plunging it through the robot body's chest.

Rufus opened his cockpit and looked down at the handle sticking out of his chest plate and pinning him to the concrete wall behind him. "Uh oh!"

"Face it kid. You may have beat that prototype Erik, but I'm the perfected version." Shego grinned, swiping each claw across Ron's chest. He blocked her strikes weakly, but Shego didn't let up, batting him from side to side with so much speed that he couldn't muster a counter attack.

* * *

"Hold still!" Drakken ordered, plunging his clawed hand into the invisible floor where Kim had been standing a moment before.

Kim brought her fist down against the metal plate covering the right side of his face, creating a sizable dent in his cheek and dislocating his metal jaw. "Rebuilding civilization, Drakken?!" she shouted, swinging another punch across his face and dislodging his clawed hand from the floor. "Destroying everything that made us human? Everything that made this Earth?!"

Kim's next punch landed in Drakken's clawed hand and he clenched his fist, showering them both with sparks as the reciprocating blades on his fingers began cutting into her gauntlet. "It will be rebuilt! It'll be worth it!"

Kim shielded her eyes as sparks sprayed out and she looked down, bringing her foot up in a series of kicks that resulted in a metal on metal clanging, and an eventual surprised and pained look on Drakken's blue skinned face. He dropped Kim and hissed, blowing his breath out in an effort to subdue the aching in his midsection. "Nothing's worth this, Drakken. Nothing is worth losing our humanity for."

"Bah!" Drakken retorted, standing straight again. "What do you know?!"

In a fizzle of static, another pair of forms appeared and Kim gasped, stepping away. Dr. Drakken stood in his blue lab coat and baggy blue pants, his gloved hands placed on his hips and a smug look chiseled on his blue skinned face. Behind him and to his right stood Shego, dressed in her black and green jumpsuit and flashing her usual devilish smirk. "She's correct though, isn't she?" Dr. Drakken said, stepping forward to look up into Lord Drakken's half metal face. "You know she is."

Lord Drakken took a step back out of apparent fear, then stepped forward and slashed at his previous appearance with his claw. The attack swept through the image of Dr. Drakken with no effect. "No!" he growled, stumbling back again and retracting the large claws back into her mechanical hand.

"While I'm impressed with how you've created an army of robots, is it worth being alone for?" Dr. Drakken asked his cybernetic self. "You've lost your henchmen, Mother, even Shego!"

"I have the world now!" Lord Drakken argued. "Everyone can now see my genius!"

"It was always the getting that drove you on. Not the having." Dr. Drakken stated.

"No matter how hard you try, Drakken, you can't defeat the human spirit." Kim said solemnly. Lord Drakken growled, swinging a punch at her before he, and his counterparts faded from the Net. She turned to look at the fading symbols of Lord Drakken's plot and reached out a hand to them. The symbols merged with her suit in a brilliant orange and blue light, and a free standing, sliding elevator door appeared only a few feet away.

* * *

Ron performed a backward hand spring to avoid one of Shego's slashing claws, only to have his arms swept out from under him by a sweep kick. Before he even fell, he was then thrown back by a burst of green plasma that struck him in the chest that sent him careening through a wall. People that had been watching the battle screamed, diving out of the way as Ron burst into the room. "Ow..." he said, picking himself up amidst the crowd of people.

"You okay, man?!" someone asked as Ron regained his bearings.

"Not really." he coughed, awkwardly climbing back through the hole in the wall he had made to see Shego leap across the street to where Joss had taken cover. "Come on, Kim..." he whispered.

Wade had found his way into the night club's back room where a mass of equipment and power was running with a throbbing hum. Finding a sizable junction box, he yanked a power cable out from it's port, his visor tinting from the sudden burst of sparks. "This ought to do it..." he said to himself, plunging the cable into the opposite port. With a loud snap, the lights in the room went out, and Wade looked up. "What the... The breaker?!" he cursed, climbing to his feet and following the cables to a large panel near the back.

He pulled the panel open to find a cloud of smoke erupt from it, and several large fuses that were blackened. Pulling several tools from his gauntlet, he pried the fuses out of their housings and pitched them over his shoulder. "Here goes nothing." Wade plunged the tools into the fuse housings and jumped back as lightning crossed over the metal tools, fusing them into place and deactivating his battlesuit.

Shego swiped a claw across Joss's path, taking the young women's pistols away before slashing her other hand down Joss's shoulder. "Try again when you've grown up, kid." Shego taunted, then let out a growl as Ron landed a flying kick at the back of her knee. "Rrrr! You're going down, sidekick!"

Ron performed a spinning kick that Shego blocked with a glowing hand, then reached out to grab Ron's chest plate in her other hand. "Wade! Now would be a good time!" he squealed as Shego drew back an arm to strike. Suddenly, the blade of Ron's katana was plunged through Shego's back, tearing a hole in her chest as Rufus put the full weight of his robotic body onto the blade.

A moment later, Joss' and Rufus' battle armor vanished in a diminishing thunder, and the synthodrones that were remaining stopped in their tracks, their glowing yellow eyes flashing dimly as they rebooted their biometric systems. Shego stumbled backward a few steps, glaring at Ron as a pained 'frozen headache' expression crossed her face. Her green glow had disappeared, and she was struggling to grab the hilt of the sword by reaching behind herself. "I'll be damned if I'm going to let you three posers do this to me!"

With a loud yell, Ron charged forward with a kick that sent her back through the wall of the club and onto the floor, pushing the sword into her back further. After a final struggle to lift herself to her feet, Shego's green glowing eyes dimmed and her metal body went limp. "I think we'll just leave the sword there until we're ready to run away." Ron said, looking down at the synthomech as a pale green light shined around the blade, a sign that Shego's body was attempting to regenerate.

"Good call." Wade said, gathering with the group in his uniform.

* * *

Kim opened her eyes to see a large projectile revolver being held over her head and pointed at Zita, who was sitting on the control console. With a subtle gesture, Kim nodded toward her to let her know she was conscious. "You know Drakken won't get away with this, right?" Zita asked, leaning back on her hands and touching the control that held Kim down in the chair.

"Seriously, Babe. Why wouldn't he? He's in there, Shego's out there, and I'm right here! How hard core is that?!" he grinned.

Without warning, Kim lifted her legs and back flipped over the chair, kicking the pistol out of Motor Ed's hand and landing with her back to the wall, catching the pistol on it's way down. "Very." Kim grinned, pointing the weapon at Motor Ed as Ron, Joss, Wade, and Rufus barged in through the door to the room. "Ron!"

"KP! You're okay!" Ron shouted, sliding down the metal railing.

"Aw, seriously?!" Motor Ed said in defeat as the rest of the team drew their own weapons.

* * *

"You had the chance to destroy Kim Possible." Hephaestus stated, it's haunting voice filling Drakken's throne room. "Now, she has vital information that may put the Icarus Phase in jeopardy."

Lord Drakken remained in his command chair after the interface cables withdrew themselves from his temple, ignoring Hephaestus' scolding. He was... sad. A feeling he hadn't had in quite some time as he knew Hephaestus tended to filter out the more depressing emotions. At least, all but the strongest ones like rage. But after hearing the words that had been lingering in the human half of his mind come from the lips of his former self, the small emotion of loneliness and sadness were seeping through the filter.

There was no ambition in his mechanical heart. He had it all, and the only thing left that was causing him to feel anything at all was battling Kim Possible. Once she was digitized, what would he do?

He would search out other worlds with Kim Possible, Erik, and Shego at the forefront, he supposed. Hephaestus had to have come from somewhere, and such an evil, militaristic weapon must have come from equally evil beings that would eventually come looking for it, just like Warmonga had. Logic dictated also that those Lorwardian beings must have great enemies with which to conquer as well.

Drakken clenched his mechanical fist and ground his teeth. "No. The New World Order will succeed. It must." he said robotically, his glowing red eye pulsing with light.

* * *

**A big thank you to Katsumara and Neo The Saiyan Angel for their beta reading of multiple chapters, as well as advice on character interaction and story development.**


	21. Dies Irae: Part One

**Dies Irae: Part One**

Kim laid in bed with only Ron's blue aura lighting her room. He was smiling down at her, running the tip of one index finger down her neck and chest. Her sculpted abdomen trembled with his touch and she let out a subdued giggle, reaching up to place a hand on his cheek. His aura gave off gentle sparks at her touch, something that had certainly gave her a pleasurable surprise the first time they had spent the night together.

"What are you thinking?" she whispered, drawing his eyes up to her face.

"Other than the obvious?" he asked slyly, his fingertip dancing around her navel. "Just... just what you said about Drakken's plan, I guess." he continued. "Do you really think he'll use the Neutronalyzer to vaporize the rest of humanity?"

Kim frowned at the question, holding her arms against her chest and rolling over into Ron's arms. "I don't know, Ron. I think he's capable of any evil. What really scares me is what Vivian said would happen before that."

Suddenly, Ron's arms began to tremble around her and she opened her eyes, pushing away from him. With a pained, fearful look on his features, he screamed in agony. His chest began to dematerialize in a burst of light that began to extend to his limbs. "Ron, no!"

Ron's body became a cloud of pixels, and his painful scream began taking on an electronic hum as his cells dispersed throughout the room.

* * *

"No!" Kim cried, sitting up in bed in a clammy sweat.

Ron stirred beside her, laying in a fetal position with his rear in the air and his sheets piled up over his head. He was drooling on his arms, his face turned toward her. "Unh?" he mumbled, struggling to wake up to her voice. "KP? Another nightmare?"

Kim bit her lip, nodding as she looked about the room. Ever since she had fought Drakken in the Net and had just had a subtle touch of Hephaestus's influence on her mind, the nightmares hadn't stopped. Was this how Josh and Vivian lived? "Same thing, different people." she admitted vaguely before cautiously lying down again and rolling over.

"The digitization thing again? Who was it this time?" Ron asked, rolling onto his side and tucking himself up close to her bare back. He blew her thick hair out of his face and placed a light peck on the back of her neck, his blue aura coming to light and enveloping them both. Despite the electrical tickle that ran down her spine as it mingled with her sweat, she couldn't muster up her usual giggle that usually resulted from Ron's mystically charged touch.

"Does it matter?" she asked with a sigh. "It's like something's telling me that everyone is going to go into that thing and there'll be nothing I can do to stop it. What's worse is that I can't tell if it's me, or something else thinking it."

Ron's soft snoring in her hair told her he had dozed off again, and his fading aura created wispy shapes in her room like sparkling blue smoke rings. She still felt safe in his arms, but the feeling had diminished after the nightmare. Before she could close her eyes in an attempt to go back to more restless sleep however, the intercomm squawked. "Hopefully I'm not interrupting anything TOO hot and heavy."

Kim growled to herself as Ron was startled awake again. "Joss, it's two in the morning!" she whined.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Did Ron wear you out?" Joss asked in a pitying tone.

"What do you want?" Kim growled.

"Nothin'. I just reckoned you'd like to know that Lieutenant Dobbs just transmitted a rendevous point."

Kim snapped upright, suddenly awake. "Slammin', Joss. Get suited up, and meet me at the Kepler." she said, tossing her covers off and sliding out from Ron's arms. "Ron, little light?"

Ron mumbled something unintelligible and the room became bathed in a blue glow again to allow Kim to find her clothing. She proceeded to pull her skin tight battle suit blueprint on, and sat down on the edge of the bed to pull the white and blue top on over her head. The sudden touch of Ron's hands clasping her sides and his lips kissing her neck caused her to smile again, the nightmare far from her mind. "Going somewhere?"

"Ron..." she breathed, her arms still bound in her shirt that she hadn't pulled on yet. "I have to go."

"Why not you and I go? Just like old times?" he asked, whispering in her ear.

"I highly doubt it would be anything like old times..." she whispered as he sat behind her with his legs hanging off the bed beside hers. "I... I..."

"She has to go, Ron!" exclaimed Joss's voice over the intercomm again and Kim mentally kicked herself for not listening for the click that signalled the microphone turning off. "Keep your hands off my cousin till we get back."

Kim let out an amused sigh and stood, pulling her shirt down to it's place just above her navel. She turned and placed a kiss against Ron's grinning lips as she pulled her Global Justice uniform on. "You could leave her there." Ron suggested quietly.

"I heard that!"

Kim placed one more kiss on Ron's lips before tearing herself away. "We'll be right back. If the Lieutenant has what we're looking for, we might just have a mission tonight too. So get some sleep." she smiled.

* * *

"So are you okay with Ron and I? Y'know..." Kim asked in a whisper as she and Joss approached the Lieutenant's rendezvous coordinates. They had landed the Kepler a short distance away, and were stealthily moving toward their destination.

"Hooked up?" Joss asked. "In the hay? Knockin' boots?"

"In love." Kim confirmed, rolling her eyes. "I know you don't believe in it, but..."

"Kim..."Joss said, pausing in her advancement. "I was only thirteen when the synthodrones came to the ranch, only a month after you an' Ron came to visit. His bravery, and modesty, an'..."

"Modesty?" Kim asked. "Are we remembering the same visit?"

"I'm just sayin' that it was that crushin' that got me through that. Got me tryin' to find ya; knowin' that you two would be the ones that could fix it. When I couldn't, I guess I gave up on everythang." Joss said. "When you an' Ron found me though, I didn't know how to deal."

Kim looked forward to where they were supposed to meet Lieutenant Dobbs impatiently, trying to decide between their contact or her little cousin's sudden epiphany. "I don't mean to sound insensitive, Joss..."

"But when I saw Josh an' Tara and their little one, I guess I finally realized that lovin' is still worth it."

"So to summarize, you're okay with it?" Kim asked impatiently, a little confused.

"I'm not saying it didn't hurt at all, especially with the way I had to find out, but I'm still happy for ya."

"That's great, Joss. Can we...?"

"But you should know that if you ever let him go, I'm gonna be there to tap him." Joss assured her in all seriousness, continuing on. Kim just stared at her, open mouthed. "Come on, Kim. We're gonna be late for the meeting."

Lieutenant Cleatus Dobbs looked out through a blown in window, searching the ruined landscape for any synthetics that had followed him. When Kim Possible herself had contacted him directly about the Neutronalyzer specs, he had used his connections to find out what he could. And by connections, he went back to the military installation that he had once guarded as a Private in the United States military.

Once there, he had discovered the awful truth that the base had been ran sacked and the Neutronalyzer was gone, taken some time ago by the synthetics. Why the machine hadn't been used when the Diablos had begun their rampage, he had no idea, but now the enemy had it and according to Kim Possible, were planning to use it soon.

When he was sure no on had followed him, he turned his back to the wall and let out a gasp as he saw two young women standing before him, one with a red braid and the other with collar length brown hair and elongated bangs that framed her face. "Gah!"

"Gah? I thought you said this guy was some kind of soldier." the brown haired girl said to the other.

"Give him a break, Joss." the red haired woman replied. "Lieutenant Dobbs? I'm Captain Kim Possible and this is my cousin, Corporal Joss Possible."

Cleatus smiled. "Well gosh ma'am, you sure have grown! You weren't nothin' but knee high to a grasshopper the last time I saw ya. Where's that friend o' yours you switched brains with?" he asked, looking around behind the two women.

Kim opened her mouth to speak, but Joss spoke up first. "They're joined at the hip now, sir."

"Err... He's around Lieutenant." Kim said, glaring at Joss for a moment before turning her attention back to Dobbs. "You said you had something for us?"

Lieutenant Dobbs held up a compact disk that had he pulled out of his coat. "I've got details to projects titled Icarus and Prometheus."

A shiver ran through Kim's spine at the man's words. This was it. Drakken's final plans. While he may still be in power after this, at least humanity would be out of immediate danger. Kim held out her hand to accept the disk, then shouted, "Down!" as the glimmer of an approaching bolt of energy caught her eye, and exploded a pile of broken concrete that the group had been standing beside.

"Erik!" Joss shouted, taking cover behind a brick wall as concrete shrapnel continued to rain down in the area.

Kim lifted her head, discovering she had been blown to a prone position, and that she still didn't have the disk in her hands. "Dobbs!" she shouted, watching the man run from the area and around a corner of still mostly intact buildings. "Joss, get Dobbs! I'll distract Erik!" she ordered, flipping up to her feet and activating her battle suit.

"Roger that, Cap'n!" Joss replied, activating her own battle suit.

* * *

"Father!" Erik called, and Lord Drakken turned to face his holographic projector to see what Erik saw. Through the streets of a ravaged city, a thin statured man in a well worn green army coat and glasses was running through the rubble in an attempt to escape. "It looks like the Possibles squared are here too. Instructions?"

"Transmit the target's position to Shego, then destroy them all!" Drakken ordered immediately. "Kim Possible must not get that information!"

"Understood." Erik grinned, swooping around Kim's energy fire with his rocket thrusters.

* * *

Kim ran while firing her pistol, explosions of metal and asphalt erupting behind her as she leaped over an oddly untouched delivery truck. She landed and back pedalled, putting her back against the body of the vehicle to catch her breath. She raised her pistol, waiting for Erik to come flying over and looked down the length of the truck's body. Through the ash covering the side, she could see a red placard and warning sign that said, 'CAUTION: HIGHLY FLAMMABLE'.

"You've gotta be kidding me." she said to herself as Erik swung around, firing bursts of blue-white energy from his palms. Digging her boots into the torn up asphalt, Kim began to run as hard as she could as an energy blast ruptured the delivery truck, throwing her forward with the blast. Flames reached out in every direction, and the shockwave crumpled nearby buildings that had managed to survive up till now.

Lieutenant Dobbs slid around the corner of a building as he heard a massive explosion that lit up the area with a bright, yellow-orange hue. The light also cast a long, humanoid female shadow across his path and an explosion of green plasma threw him off of his feet, sending him skidding to a stop.

Shego landed on her feet in a crouch in front of her target, flashing a wicked smile as he looked up into her green glowing eyes. "Nice to beat you."

"I remember you! You locked me in a crate!" Cleatus accused, climbing to his feet.

"You're that Private that switched brains with Drakken!" Shego laughed as she extended her arm. The digitization ray unfolded from her forearm and Cleatus turned to run. "He's going to want to have a talk with you!"

The beam activated as Cleatus was running, and Joss stepped between him and Shego, the beam enveloping her armor's forcefield. Crouching down on one knee, Joss's targeting computer highlighted the retractable weapon and she fired both revolving energy pistols. Before it could retract back into the protective armor of Shego's forearm, it exploded in a flash of light and green sparks. Shego's arm whipped back in surprise as she cried out in agony, holding the damaged limb and glaring at Joss as she hissed in pain and agony.

"That ray's a direct line to her CPU! She'll be scrambled for awhile, but she's gonna be pissed when she figures out what just happened." Joss said, grabbing Lieutenant Dobbs by the coat sleeve. "C'mon! We've gotta make it back to the Kepler and scoot!"

"Roger that, ma'am!" Cleatus agreed. "Let's run like Hell!"

* * *

Erik walked through the blazing fire, his shiny black and blue armor reflecting the carnage on it's surface. He scanned the area slowly, his various sensors highlighting the various obstacles that his tactical computer suggested were the most likely places for Kim to hide.

Almost as quickly as the suggestions came up, he mentally discarded them though, smiling to himself in the personal knowledge of Kim's unpredictability. "Do you find this exciting, Kim?!" he asked aloud, switching to shape recognition and allowing his vision to highlight the probability of geometries that would most likely be Kim's form.

An eighty nine percent probability flashed before his eyes and the mound of rubble exploded as he fired an arm cannon. "This has kinda become like dating, don't you think?!" he shouted again as he stalked noisily down the street and turned down to look down an alley. "I'm glad that loser friend of yours isn't here. We can have some quality time together for a change. Just you and me, like it used to be."

Kim opened her eyes, but made no sound. She was hanging upside down off of a deadened light post with one leg hooked around it and an arm extended up it's length. Her other leg was pointed straight out, perpendicular to the post in a butterfly extension, and her other hand still grasped her pistol. She could hear Erik walk by in front of her, and she slowly raised her pistol to mere feet from the back of the synthomech's head and fired.

As Erik fell forward, the missing part of his head smoking and sparkling, Kim slowly climbed down from her awkward position and blew the smoke from the barrel of her pistol before spinning it on her finger and holstering it. "Hmm... Joss was right. Those pole dancing exercises are handy." she smiled to herself. "Joss. Need a ride here." she said into her comm as Erik began to struggle to a standing position.

"On our way, Kim." Joss replied.

* * *

"Okay, Dad. What's the sitch?" Kim asked the holographic image of her father. The rest of her team stood with her with somber expressions, ready for whatever Drakken's endgame was.

"Gee, Kimmie-Cub. These are very detailed files." Dr. Possible said, still scanning the disk. "It looks like the Icarus phase of Project New World Order is some sort of ship in orbit with a digitization ray capable of a global digitization process."

"No way..." Joss let out.

"Way, Joss." Dr. Possible replied. "However, because of the vacuum and cold of space, as well as the immense range and interference, the ship is being controlled by remote from this location." One of the computer monitors showed a heavily fortified bunker, surrounded by weapons systems. "Which is located ten miles underground in Wisconsin, and only accessible through a winding tunnel that's defended by an assortment of energy weapons."

"Oh, man!" Rufus said, his whiskered face falling.

"Time frame?" Wade asked, leaning forward.

"Three hours until the ship is in prime firing position."

Kim nearly choked, realizing what her nightmares had been trying to tell her. Her mind began buzzing with loopholes on how to overcome this particular no-win scenario. "And Prometheus?"

"It appears you were right about the Neutronalyzer, Kimmie. According to the disk, Drakken has reverse engineered the military's secret weapon into a global beam system capable of Neutronalyzing the entire planet in one shot."

"That's not very efficient." Ron said with a sniff, crossing his arms. As the other members of the team looked back at him, he shrugged. "Oh, come on! He puts that much energy into a weapon that he only needs to fire once?!"

"Those are the best kind." Joss added.

Kim shook her head, turning back to her father's image. "What exactly does the Neutronalyzer do?"

"Apparently, the Neutronalyzer beam can pass through any inanimate matter and vaporize anything organic, no matter the protection."

"Wouldn't that destroy Drakken, too? He's still partially living." Joss stated.

"He'll be keeping his base shielded, right Dad?" Kim asked.

"Right, Kimmie-cub."

"Dare I ask the time frame on Prometheus?" Kim continued.

"Time to firing sequence..." he said, frowning as he paused. "Three and a half hours."

"He's gonna digitize everyone he can before burnin' away what's left over." Joss said quietly, feeling as though she was going to be sick.

"What's the plan, KP?" Ron asked, breaking the silence.

Kim thought for a moment, her eyes narrowing at the schematic spinning on the monitor. "Joss, start running simulations of taking the Kepler through the Icarus tunnel. Ron, Rufus; load every piece of ordinance onto the Kepler. Wade, contact Monique and the Passages. Let them know what's about to happen and protect themselves however they can."

"What are you gonna do, Kim?" Wade asked as Ron, Joss, and Rufus left the control room.

"I'll be here, studying the plans." she answered, sitting down in front of the monitor. "Dad, bring up all the trig formula you can find. I've got an idea."

* * *

"Icarus platform reaching optimum firing position, and full remote has been engaged. Time to global digitization: thirty minutes." Hephaestus said, it's deep voice filling Drakken's throne room.

"Excellent!" Drakken said, rubbing his hands together. "Place the Icarus bunker on full alert, and lock it down. I want nothing going in or out, and I want to be informed of anything unusual!"

"Yes, Lord Drakken."

"Ze plan goez vell, Drakken?" Dementor asked, his beady glowing yellow eyes shining in the dim light. The whirring of mechanical servos signalled his movement as he walked closer to Drakken's throne, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Yes, Dementor!" Drakken grinned. "Soon there will be nothing left to oppose me, and my Empire will be a cybertronic masterpiece, built on the back of a broken civilization! Muahahahaha!"

"Ah. Zen you are not of ze conzerning that ze Fraulien Possible may have ze stolen plans?"

"Not at all. She has yet to act, so she is already too late! Looks like I'll be winning that bet of who will rule the world first, won't I?" Drakken snickered.

"Maybe." Dementor answered, sounding bored. "Ze fact zat she has been ze interfering with ze virst plans means nozing, zen?"

"Kim Possible is not as 'all that' as you seem to think!" Drakken bit out. "Now go! You're of no use to me!"

"Very well, Lord Drakken." Dementor said, steepling his fingers with a dark glare.

* * *

Joss sat in the cockpit of the Kepler, going through the Icarus simulation for what felt like the hundredth time. The tunnel schematics showed that the massive structure was littered with obstacles, from thick girders that can across the center, to protrusions that jutted out at random with docking ports for much smaller craft than the Kepler. The tunnel was also a ten mile descent with several turns going down. So far, she had yet to even reach the end and see the Icarus bunker.

"Kepler destroyed." the female computer voice announced. "Time lapsed: Ten point six seconds."

"Rrrr!" Joss groaned, dropping her head onto the control console. The numerous sentry guns would always pepper the nose of the ship, and while the thick armor of the Kepler could normally withstand such punishment, it was making the ship very difficult to control in a near vertical drop. A blast at the wrong time, in the wrong place would nearly always throw Joss off course and into a beam, resulting in a severed engine and control loss.

And yet, hers was the first step. If she couldn't get any of them to the bunker, then the mission would already be over. "Okay." she sighed, sitting up again. "Let's try this again."

"Okay, people." Kim said, taking a breath. "Here's what we've got. Joss will pilot the Kepler through the tunnel, where we'll have to blow the door using our rockets." she began, then looked toward Joss. "Can you do it?"

"Sure." she replied, her features revealing nothing. "No big."

"Then... we'll only have a few minutes to get in, shut it down, and proceed to our next stop..." Kim continued, gesturing to the monitor where BN Headquarters appeared, spinning slowly. "Where we'll access Drakken's primary control system and shut down the Prometheus program."

Ron let out a laugh. "Yeah, right!" When no one else joined in, his face fell. "Wait, you're serious?"

"Kim, that place is a literal fortress." Joss said. "There ain't no way in."

"There will be, if we succeed at the first mission. If we don't, then it won't matter." Kim assured them.

"This isn't like old times, Kim." Wade said. "I hate to say it, but it sounds impossible."

"That's why we're going to win." she answered with a smile.

* * *

"Lord Drakken, sir?"

Drakken turned in his chair to face the holographic image of one of his human workers in charge of the Icarus project. "What is it?" he asked, tapping his metal fingertips on the arm of his chair impatiently.

"Hank Perkins, hello!" the man waved. "We've detected a shuttle coming directly toward us. It's moving so fast, it was past our perimeter before we could open fire on it." Drakken immediately cut the connection, and called for Erik.

"Yes, Father?" Erik asked as he soared through the air, patrolling the area around the Icarus tunnel.

"Possible is on her way. Stop her at all costs!" Drakken ordered, clenching his fists.

"Understood!" Erik replied, twisting in mid air and engaging his afterburners.

* * *

"Incoming, Kim!" Wade shouted over the rattle of the Kepler. Joss was flying at hypersonic speeds in a nap of the earth pattern, following the contours of the land and tearing up everything along their path with the wake. The air was shimmering along the acceleration shields, and the turbulence of going so fast, so low to the ground was causing the entire craft to shake.

"Erik!" Rufus called, not waiting for his translator.

"Got it covered, KP!" Ron shouted, unbuckling and standing from his seat. "I'll catch up later!"

Kim reached out to his uniform as he stumbled by and pulled his face down to hers in a passionate, open mouthed kiss. "Be careful, Ron."

"Non issue, Kim." he smiled wistfully.

"Far be it from me to be a bearer of coitus interruptus, guys; but if he stops us here, we're all done!" Joss said, sweat beading on her forehead.

"Right. I'm outta here." Ron said, rushing to the elevator at the back of the cockpit. He watched his friends disappear as the elevator door slid closed and he took a breath, trying to calm himself. Slowly, his blue aura began to shimmer, then blaze before condensing into brilliant blue samurai armor and forming into a katana on his belt. As he let the breath out, he found himself on the outside of the Kepler, protected by the acceleration shields that kept parts from causing too much drag and being torn off.

Erik was nothing but a point of light in the distance but was quickly approaching and Ron readied himself. In order to keep up with the Kepler, Erik would have to be planning to latch onto it and fight his way inside. Ron began to tremble. The synthomech would be fighting as hard as he would be, just like in Eden Two. Where he nearly lost.

As Erik continued to get closer, Ron found purchase on the hull of the ship and began to run as fast as his mystically enhanced muscles would carry him, then leaped.

The shimmering hull of the Kepler came into view, and Erik began firing his arm cannons immediately, directing himself to collide with the craft so that he could disable it. What he did not expect was a human figure to come leaping out of the ship's shielding and collide with him.

"Ah! Are you crazy?!" Erik shouted as Ron caught him around the midsection, sending them both spinning out of control. They passed through the Kepler's shielding, matching the ship's speed for a moment before bouncing off of the hull, colliding with the dorsal engine strut, and continuing to spiral through the debris in the ship's wake before striking the ground and tumbling.

* * *

Drakken watched in frustration as Erik struck the ground and Kim Possible's ship continued on, unhindered. "Erik, you fool! You let her... Rrrrr! Perkins!"

"Yes, sir! Hello!" the man called happily.

"Put all of your personnel on highest alert! The ship cannot be allowed to reach the bunker." Drakken shouted. "Hephaestus! Calculate firing time for Icarus!"

"Icarus ship will be in firing position in eight minutes." it replied.

* * *

"Hope everyone said their good byes to home base." Kim added as the Icarus tunnel came into view. She reached toward the Invictus remote control on her console, and flipped the switch that would power up the machine located at the Global Justice base. "Because Drakken just found out where we've been hiding."

* * *

Deep in the Masada mountain on the edge of Israel, the Invictus machine clicked and whirred. Indicator lights blinked, then lit up and the sound of raw power began thrumming through the empty base. Within a few moments, two pillars of copper separated with a coil of nickle cable being strung loosely between them. Within the normally dark recesses of the machine, a purple light began to spin; slowly at first, then gaining speed as the long copper rods on the top began to telescope upward.

They punched through steel floors, tearing up hallways and rooms; even pushing Pandaroo aside and off of Kim's bed as they rose toward the surface of the mountain. Ruins began to crumble and break as the legendary Jewish fortress was pushed aside for the solid copper rods to punch through the stone of the desert surface.

It took a few seconds for the debris to clear, but then the silence was broken once again as the Invictus machine reached full power and activated, enveloping the globe for only a fraction of a second in white light.

* * *

"Lord Drakken!" Hephaestus called, it's normally calm, deep voice suddenly sounding panicked.

"What?!" Drakken shouted, already growing more frustrated.

"Our connection to our synthetic forces has been... lost."

"What?!" he cried, his voice rising.

"Something has destroyed the compliance chips!" Hephaestus stated. "It is our connection to the synthodrones!"

"All of our defenses..." Drakken thought aloud. "Trace the source and dispatch all units in the area!" An image of the Earth appeared and zoomed into the Middle East, highlighting a mountain range overlooking the Dead Sea.

"We are being jammed."

"Rrrr!" Drakken growled. "Reroute all power to the remaining Diablo repeater stations and divert all Diablos to that location! Crash them if you have to! I want that mountain turned to dust!"

* * *

Joss ground her teeth in concentration. "This is it, people! We're going in!" She guided the Kepler over top of the tunnel and pulled back on the control yoke and the throttle, putting the ship into a loop that caused the ship to shake and strain before stalling and turning it's nose toward the tunnel.

"The Kepler wasn't designed for this!" Wade shouted as he strained against the gravity of a high speed loop. The ship reached the apex of it's loop and performed a barrel roll, diving straight down into the tunnel. Energy fire began striking the Kepler, knocking it back and forth and threatening to jar the controls out of Joss's hands.

"We are taking too much fire." Rufus's translator said in a far more calm tone of voice than the series of squeaks and chirps that preceded it let on.

Joss looked down at her instruments, watching the integrity of the ship's hull dwindle. "If we're not gonna make it..." she said under her breath, grabbing the throttle. "At least we'll get there fast." She pushed the throttle up, engaging the Quantum Drive again. "Rufus! Full weapons front!"

"Slow down! We'll never make those corners!" Wade shouted from behind her.

Joss let out a snort. "Damn backseat drivers..." The Kepler's point defense cannons rattled away as shards of energy were directed a few feet ahead of the ship, chewing through girders and machinery barely in time for the Kepler to fly through the tunnel. Bits of metal, debris and synthodrones battered the hull, leaving heavy gouges in the hull and causing loud screeches to sing throughout the cockpit.

Equipment spilled out of shelves and off desks as Joss banked the Kepler and pulled back on the yoke without slowing, crashing the side of the ship into the tunnel and scraping machinery off of the immense supports of the metal tube. "Left solar panel's gone." Rufus's translator stated.

"I know. I know!" Joss replied, adjusting. She looked down at her instruments again and noticed that only a tenth of the weapons fire was getting through, and most of the actual damage was cosmetic from collisions.

"Go, Joss." Kim said quietly with a grin, watching her little cousin guide the Kepler past defenses, around girders, and drifting sideways to curve around corners at hyper speed. Within thirty seconds, a warning flashed signalling that the Icarus bunker was quickly approaching. "Get ready, Rufus. Only going to be one shot."

The mole rat nodded, skittering over his controls, watching for his target to come into view. As they rounded the last corner, dropping down to face the main hangar of the underground building, Joss pulled back on the primary throttle and levelled out. The weapons bay swung open, revealing two dozen rockets that began spiralling out toward the hangar.

Defense lasers began picking off the rockets, destroying them in mid flight until three of the warheads reached their target, breaking open the blast door in a spray of fire and wreckage.

"Nice work, people!" Kim exclaimed. "Let's suit up. Thanks to Joss, we've got some extra time."

"So six minutes instead of five?" Wade asked as Joss piloted the Kepler to a defensible position above the hangar.

"It'll be enough if the Invictus did what you said it will." Kim replied, touching the GJ symbol on her collar as the rest of her team did the same. "Let's just hope that Ron's doing as well as we are."

* * *

Ron pulled his head out of the dirt that he had settled into, taking a raspy breath as he looked behind himself, seeing the long crevice in the street he had created after falling from the Kepler at hyper speed. "That plan went alot differently in my head."

"No kidding, Loser!" Erik said, pushing Ron off and pulling himself from the rocky dune they had created, his head facing off at an unnatural angle. He stood, adjusting his head with both hands with a disturbing crack and bending of metal.

Ron looked away with a grimace, sticking out his tongue. "Euagh!"

"I can tell you that mine is going to happen just how I want it to!" he shouted, swinging at Ron and striking the ground where he had been standing. "You've gotten in the way for the last time!"

Ron jumped, flipped, and cartwheeled, content in the knowledge that all he would have to do is stall him so that Kim could succeed. "What's wrong?!" he shouted with a chuckle. "Can't ya... Oof!"

Erik had activated his rocket thrusters, and caught Ron around the chest with one arm, plowing through a darkened high rise apartment complex that had large plasma burns burrowed through it. Concrete and ruined drywall blew in as the pair punched through and Erik let go of Ron, allowing him to continue to slide backward into the apartment on his feet. He glared out the hole that had been made in the building and grinned, motioning for Erik to attack.

"You and Kim? You're finished Stoppable!" Erik shouted, charging forward. He fired blast after blast at Ron as he flew into the building in an attempt to catch him again. Ron fell onto his back as Erik flew over head, then leaped immediately back up to his feet. Erik stopped and pivoted, using his thrusters to hover in the room and ignite the apartment in flames. "You and her were never meant to be together! Now that you are, your world... Your entire species is coming to an end! And I'm going to have a front row seat for the show!" he grinned.

Thoughts of Kim swirled around in Ron's mind. If he failed here, it wasn't so much that she would be without him anymore, but she would be gone too. Digitized and stored in a virtual nightmare within an alien computer. His aura flickered and blazed, expanding again to fill the room and shine through the windows of the building. He found himself floating off of his feet, suspended in mid air by the glowing blue astral form of a monkey tail, tucked underneath him. Enveloping him was the electrified image of a ten foot tall monkey that howled at Erik, brandishing huge fangs as Ron growled. His eyes blazed pure white and he glared across the room at the synthomech, the screeching cacophony of an army of monkeys filling the building.

Outside, the sky had become a swirling red haze, as though a massive tornado had settled over the towering building and was flinging debris in every direction like a raging child. Husks of burned out vehicles and large chunks of cement were thrown through windows and crumpled concrete walls as the red, swirling tornado picked up speed.

"Cheap parlor tricks won't scare me, Stoppable!" Erik shouted over the wind. "You're still human! You're nothing! And you can't destroy me!"

Ron let out a deep, resounding howl and charged at him, beating his fists against Erik madly. Erik blocked as many strikes as he could, but each hit sent star like cracks spreading over his armor. A blast of energy from each hand sent Ron sliding back, but the mystical warrior charged forward again without hesitation, leaping onto Erik's shoulders and battering his head repeatedly.

"Enough!" Erik shouted, clutching Ron by his chest plate and throwing him off and out the hole in the wall. Ron grabbed the metal supports that had been broken, swinging to a crouched position in the damaged wall, and Erik wasted no time. His thrusters flared, pushing him forward and into Ron.

Planting his feet, Ron grappled Erik and flipped backward, carrying the synthomech with him and down the side of the building. They collided with balconies and other obstacles, shattering them in their descent until they finally impacted the ground, the shockwave shaking the foundation of the building they fought in.

Erik's armored body was continuing to dent and fracture as Ron refused to let up his assault. The apartment complex began to shake and break apart around them, it's bulk being lifted and hurled by the immense storm that continued to rage. Erik lashed out several times in frustration, eventually grabbing hold of Ron's clothing and he fired his arm cannons again, sending Ron skittering away.

He stood, his metal legs shaking and an arm falling off of his shoulder from too much damage. Much of his armor plating had been torn away, leaving a heavily scratched and dented skeletal frame that shined with a bright white light in an attempt to regenerate. "I can't be destroyed, Stoppable." he said, his voice volume fading in and out. "I am synthetic. I serve Lord Drakken. I was created by the Forge. I can't be destroyed!" he shouted, staggering toward Ron with his palms crackling with energy.

Ron raised his hands palms up, to waist height and his aura began to fade, dropping off of him in three foot tall, glowing monkey apparitions that charged toward Erik, screeching. More and more appeared, viciously climbing and biting and clawing at Erik's body. The screeching became deafening, and as pieces of metal were thrown off, another monkey spirit would collect it and bite into it as it disintegrated in a flurry of sparks. "Stoppable!" Erik screamed, barely audible over the screeching. "You can't des..."

Ron fell to his knees, then slumped forward. The monkey spirits had returned to him, then vanished, and there was no trace of Erik. Nothing to regenerate. Nothing to rebuild. He blinked a few times, suddenly panicking as he struggled to right himself. He barely managed to sit up before he took a gasping breath, suddenly unable to believe what had just happened.

All of Monkey Fist's rants about the Ultimate Monkey Master commanding an army of monkey Ninjas suddenly made sense, although Ron doubted the maniacal villain ever quite understood the prophesies he so blindly followed. He had stolen the Mystical Monkey Power before to protect Kim from the Diablo on Prom night. Stripped it from both Sensei and Monkey Fist, but had never quite understood it all. Had never been ready to handle it all. Now it felt as though he had been unleashed.

"Wow." he said quietly, trying to push away from the ground with his legs in order to stand. "I'm tired."

* * *

The Invictus machine hummed and pulsed, it's glowing coil shining brightly in the darkening sky. Diablos from every portion of the Earth were drawing closer, nearing the range of their command signals that were being transmitted from the remaining repeater stations. Buildings that once held Buenos Nachos restaurants, of which there were very little in Israel considering beef had been its main ingredient.

As they neared the mountainous Global Justice base, the first wave of Diablos reverted back to their toy form and rained harmlessly down on the mountain and its protruding double copper rods, suddenly out of range of the repeater stations. The second wave of Diablos stopped and landed, standing nearly as tall as the mountain range itself. Their clawed hands retracted, giving way to plasma cannons that erupted in bright yellow streams of energy directed at the base of the mountain.

Super heated rock began to explode as the Diablo bots continued their fire, and they were soon joined by several more waves of cybertronic robots. As the surface of the mountain continued to break apart and melt into molten rock, several explosions erupted within the mountain, signalling the end of the Global Justice base.

The Invictus tower began to shake, and then topple as it's supports gave way and it began to crash into the desert. Large chunks of stone and metal were being thrown in every direction, and a final explosion tore the Global Justice base apart, washing over the remaining giant Diablo bots that now waited for new instructions.

* * *

"Yes!" Drakken cheered. "The end of that infernal base!" he laughed, watching the impressive explosion on his holographic display. "Kim Possible now has nowhere to go back to!"

"There is still the area known to them as the Passages." Hephaestus stated.

Drakken grinned, thinking. "The Diablos won't be able to fit. Send any synthodrones in the area into those tunnels and clean them out!"

"Lord Drakken!" Hephaestus said again.

"Yes?" he asked, still grinning.

"Erik has been... Lost."

Drakken lowered his head into his gloved hand in frustration. "Fine! Open the portal again and..."

"He has been destroyed." Hephaestus explained, almost sadly.

Drakken looked up with a gasp. "That's impossible!"

"Kim Possible has breached the Icarus base."

* * *

The blast door blew into the last guard position of the Icarus bunker and Rufus piloted his robotic body into the room, his armor deflecting a hail of energy. Inside were two levels, both crowded full of synthodrones with two mounted, fully automatic energy rifles being manned on the upper catwalk.

The advancement had been easy up until now, with synthodrones simply standing at attention, awaiting orders that weren't coming thanks to the Invictus machine. Kim, Wade, and Rufus had cut through them quickly, and allowed the newly freed humans a chance at escape. Most had proved willing to leave, although there were a few that had joined Drakken's empire of their own violition and the now dead compliance chip hadn't changed their behavior at all. They now lied unconscious in Kim's wake.

Now that the synthodrones had reactivated though, it meant that the Invictus machine and the Global Justice base itself; their home for the past five years, were both now destroyed.

Kim and Wade both used the edges of the blast door as cover, firing their pistols into the room with carefully placed shots, each one resulting in super heated synthogoo being sprayed about the room. "Wade! Concentrate on the turrets!" Kim said into her comm. "Rufus, make sure the bottom line stays clear. We've got a crowd trying to flank us." she continued, her heads up display showing a mass of synthetic troops approaching from behind.

Each time Wade destroyed a synthodrone manning a turret, another would step up to replace it, attempting to concentrate the firepower on Rufus, who was simply strafing the floor level doors with his energy cannon. Kim ran into the room, placed one boot on the fusion generator mounted to the back of Rufus's robotic body, climbing the rest of the way with another step before lanching herself off of his shoulders and toward the catwalk. She tucked herself into a somersault, firing her pistol in either direction before landing in a crouch that resulted in the synthodrones on either end shooting each other.

She rolled to the side, firing up at the synthodrone behind the turret and kicking the bubbling husk out of the way as she stood and holstered her weapon. As a horde of synthodrones came charging through the door, Kim pulled the dual triggers on the turret, essentially microwaving the front line of troops and burning through to the next. Within seconds, the reinforcements were gone.

Kim jumped down next to Wade and Rufus. "Twenty seconds, people. Move it." she said, rushing through the next hall. Her heads up display showed a number of synthodrones in the room, as well as one human near the center, and a few more in front of the door. "Three human shields up front, ten synthetics behind cover, and one human commander." she said while running.

"Human shields." Wade scoffed. "Remind me to never build another robot."

"Cut the chatter, we're workin'." Kim said calmly. "Rufus, take the drones, but mind the people. Wade, get to that computer. I'll deal with the shield and the commander. Breach and clear."

The simple final command let Wade know she was ready for the door to be opened, and he launched a large glowing spike from his gauntlet into the door controls, several feet ahead. Upon stabbing into the control panel, the spike split into four metal tentacles that jabbed into the locking mechanism, giving Wade a remote link through his suit's computer in order to hack the code.

Kim charged the door as it barely opened in time to let her pass through. Three fearful humans stood before her and she forced the middle one to bend over forward with one hand, using her as a support as Kim leaped over her back and pushed the two men next to her down and back by performing a split, kicking them both in the chest.

Her grapple line shot out as Rufus fired precision bursts, tearing through bits of metal and needless pieces of equipment before vaporizing the synthodrones that had taken cover behind them. Wade reached the computer, ducking beneath Kim's grapple line as the head clamped onto the commander's uniform and pulled him forward, onto the floor.

"Eight seconds, Wade!" Kim shouted, putting her boot on the commander's back to keep him from getting up.

"You're too late, Ms. Possible!" the commander said in a thin voice as Wade's hands flew over the controls.

"And you are?" she asked coolly.

"Hank Perkins, hello!" he strained, finding it difficult to speak with Kim standing on his back.

"Rufus, see if those other three are okay. Wade?"

"In position, Kim!" Wade grinned. "Wow... It's got an off switch!"

"Blow it."

On the screen that was monitoring the purple and orange ship, the Icarus project pivoted and it's engines burst to life for a moment before they exploded, causing the alien looking vessel to fall toward the Earth in a massive fireball. "Woot!" Wade cheered. "What a way to ring in the new year!"

"No time for celebrations yet, Wade." Kim said, touching the comm in her ear. "Joss, we're done here. Time to pick us up and meet Ron at the rendezvous point."

"What about him?" Rufus asked, gesturing to Hank.

"Tell Drakken that I'm coming for him." Kim said, glaring down at the man. He nodded with a frown, knowing what giving such bad news would undoubtedly mean.

* * *

"Icarus ship has been destroyed." Hephaestus stated.

"Rrr! Fine!" Drakken yowled, pulling at his hair with his gloved hand. "Engage Prometheus! I want it online now!"

"There is danger, Lord Drakken."

"Nonsense!" he argued. "Even Kim Possible can't make it here on time to stop Prometheus!"

"Icarus ship's trajectory is a threat. It will strike here in ten point four minutes." Hephaestus stated.

An image of the fiery ball of alien metal as it was racing through the planet's atmosphere appeared on Drakken's holoprojector; it's target spot on with Drakken's BN Headquarters fortress. "Divert all Diablos to intercept and destroy it!" Drakken ordered.

"All Diablo forces are in Sector..."

"Drakken!" Dementor cried, clutching onto a set of conduits that ran through the throne room. "DO ZOMEZING!"

"Raise all shields! Give priority power to the Prometheus weapon! Now!" Drakken cried, his voice rising in panic and a blue, translucent bubble formed over BN Headquarters, rippling with energy that was designed to repel any conventional attack.

* * *

"Ron!" Kim shouted, exiting the Kepler in her uniform as Ron approached.

"KP!" he replied, embracing the woman in a tight, closed eye hug.

"You beat Erik!" Kim said with a teary eyed smile, holding Ron's face in her hands.

Ron nodded. "For the last time. How're we doing?"

"The last...? How?" she asked, confused. "Instead of insisting on an explanation however, she shook her head. "Joss and Wade are doing some emergency repairs to the Kepler while we take turns recharging our suits. We've only got twenty minutes before Prometheus is fired, so we have to move fast." she said, leading him into the ship. "Wade, how's our little present?"

"Right on target, Kim." he answered. "Should be hitting in two minutes."

"Hopefully it'll take Prometheus out for us." Kim said.

"Any way Drakken could stop it?" Ron asked with a thoughtful frown.

"Two hundred tons of flaming metal, travelling at terminal velocity?" Wade said with a grin.

"I just hope the people we were able to free got out." Kim said solemnly. "Soon as you're ready, Joss."

* * *

Automated weapons defense platforms turned and opened fire at the quickly approaching fire ball that was hurtling toward them. Energy streamed from every area of the industrialized cityscape in a desperate attempt to crack the projectile into smaller, less damaging pieces.

The Icarus struck the blue shielding, slowing it's descent. But the shield flashed and buckled, allowing the Titanic sized molten lump of metal to smash into the side of Drakken's fortress. It created a nearly smooth burn hole in the side of the dark, menacing building before the final impact caused a ripple of explosions that tore debris and flames out of the entry hole, sending girders and fragments of metal out over the surrounding city; cutting holes through factories and generators as though they were made of paper.

Drakken could feel the metal of his fortress bend and twist within the split second it took for the Icarus to pass through, then turned away from the far wall and covered his head as half of his throne room was ripped away in another explosion, exposing it to the open air. Fires ignited throughout the room, activating suppression spray in a ridiculous and useless display of safety protocol. Another explosion blew in sheets of metal that bounced off Drakken's armored shoulders and pinned Dementor to the wall he had been hiding against.

"DRAKKEN! ZE ARE A VOOL!" Dementor shouted, pushing the slab of metal off of himself to glare at Drakken with angry yellow eyes. "Again vith ze failing at destroying Kim Possible! You are gone! Gone, I zay! I, PROFESSOR DEMENTOR should 'ave been ze one with ze world controlling robots!"

Drakken picked himself up off of the floor with the sound of servos whining. "Enough, Dementor!"

"NIEN!" he shouted, rolling forward and out of the metal rubble. "It has been painful to watch you vith ze squandering of your world conquering resources, and I am now taking command of ze revaining..."

Dementor's voice went silent after a sharp buzz in his vocabulator and Drakken retracted the deadly claws that adorned each finger of his mechanical hand. "Hephaestus!"

"Unit D-d-dementor is no longer-r-r responding..." it replied, it's deep voice slow and stuttering.

"Yes. He seems to have been caught in the explosion." Drakken said, looking down at the sparking red and black robot. "What is the status of the Prometheus weapon?"

"Prometheus is still fully functional." Hephaestus said. "Drakken... we... We hurt."

"Fire Prometheus as soon as you are able." Drakken ordered. "Kim Possible will not live to defy me again!"


	22. Dies Irae: Part Two

**Dies Irae Part Two**

"Josh!" Tara called, holding her three week old baby to her chest. Her muscles were still aching from lying in a cot for several days, and until a few hours ago, she had been told to stay there. But since the evacuation announcement, there had been people running everywhere in a practiced fashion and Josh had gone looking for a wheelchair for her while their meager supplies were packed up by volunteers that had been assigned by Mrs. Dr. Possible.

Then the first explosion struck and someone had shouted "Synthodrones!". Now, the massive highway tunnel that had been their home and safe haven was a death trap.

"Right here, Tara." Josh said, dodging a panicked mob while rolling a wheelchair toward her. "How's Joss doing?" he asked, settling Tara into the chair. He referred of course, to the baby boy in her arms. The child had been named after his impromptu god mother, and the young soldier, turned midwife had at first been insulted. She had been adamant that 'Joss' was a girl's name despite Tara mentioning a creative television director that had been popular amongst science fiction fans before the Diablo War. At least, Kim's little cousin had argued until she held the little boy in her arms.

"He's stressed. Just like his mother!" Tara informed him. "Where's Hana?"

Josh looked around. "She was just here!" he shouted, pushing back against someone that pushed past him.

Hundreds of bright yellow lights appeared with the echoing sound of marching feet. Tara gasped as the rest of the crowd disappeared down the tunnel behind them. "Josh, look!" she said, pointing to a small, lone figure with dark skin and short, messy hair that stood between the army of synthodrones and them. "Hana, come back!" she cried.

But the six year old Japanese girl stood her ground, looking up at the black and purple synthetic soldiers that had chased her for weeks until Ron Stoppable had found her a few months earlier. The synthodrones didn't even seem to notice her though, instead levelling their energy rifles at the couple and their new born. Josh leaned down to hold Tara, kissing the young mother and her baby boy softly, fully expecting the end.

* * *

"Kim, Freedom Two just issued a new announcement. The Passages are under attack." Wade said, looking up from his console as the team sat in the Kepler.

Kim clenched her teeth. "Dad? What's the status on Prometheus?" she asked as a tiny holographic image of her father appeared on her command console. She had made certain that Wade had taken a backup of her father's personality matrix and installed it into the Kepler before they had abandoned the GJ base. While the ship's computer was nowhere near as powerful as the base's, she still couldn't bear to be without her dad's guidance and sometimes off the wall childhood stories.

"Still online, Kimmie-Cub. The Icarus ship did extensive damage to Drakken's fortress, but it would appear that the Prometheus weapon was shielded somehow." he said. "I'm detecting several of the nuclear dynamos were destroyed in the crash though, and all of the perimeter defenses have been shut down."

"He's trying to distract us, Kim." Joss said, flying the Kepler over Middleton. "We've got a long way to go and a short time to get there."

"I know, Joss." she replied. "If we do rescue them and Prometheus goes off, we'll all be dead anyway. Time to go in." she finally decided. "Let's jet."

Joss brought the Kepler in low and fast through the industrial metropolis surrounding BN Headquarters, dodging exhaust ports and robotic cranes that had ceased construction of the large transport vessels and other weapons of war. The silhouette of Drakken's fortress came into view, reaching high above the city's horizon with smoke rising out of a gaping hole that the Icarus ship had created. Debris was still falling from the sky in the area, covering the land outside the ship's entry for miles.

"It must have took one heck of a shield to keep that ship from flattening this entire building, Kim." Wade said as the Kepler moved around in order to enter the hole. "The impact velocity should have made a crater a few miles wide."

"Well hopefully whatever slowed it down is out of commission." she replied. The Kepler lowered into the damaged area of the fortress, looking like a tiny speck amidst the carnage. The seared ends of metal supports were still glowing red with heat; giving an eerie, star-like pattern against the blackened backdrop, with sparks exploding at various intervals from severed conduits.

"Wow. And I thought I was good at breakin' things." Ron said, and Rufus let out a whistle at the destruction surrounding them. "This place is huge! How are we gonna find the Promo thingy?"

"Teamwork, Ron." Kim said as the Kepler settled into an open enough room. "Joss knows the layout, and will get us to a computer that Wade will use to find us a path. We don't have a lot of time though, so we've gotta keep moving. There's a lot more on the line than usual, so no stops. No matter what."

The rest of the team nodded, touching the GJ symbols on their collars and activating their battlesuits. As the pulses of thunder and lightning subsided, the energy released from their battle suit blueprints taking the form of high tech battle armor, Ron stood grinning as he wore his own glowing, samurai styled suit. The others looked at him quizzically, to which he replied, "What? I finally feel like part of the team now!"

"Come on." Kim said with a small grin, exiting the ship with her pistol in hand. "How's the holoshroud holding up, Wade?"

As the entry ramp closed behind them, Wade tapped a number of buttons on his gauntlet. The Kepler shimmered for a moment before blending into the background of the demolished technical bay. "Good to go, Kim." he replied.

"Let's just remember where we parked." Joss added, following the rest of the team into the hallways of Drakken's fortress. This technical room had taken severe damage, with huge vats of synthogoo broken open and spilling onto the floor and dripping out through the cavity created by the Icarus ship. Several synthodrones were lying dormant by the large sliding door that was noisily opening and closing, hanging limply at their post. "What's with them?"

"Collateral damage. The impact probably caused a lot of interference in their connection." Wade explained. "They'll still give us trouble if we're detect..." he continued until his sentence was cut off by a series of energy blasts from Joss's pistols. "...ed."

"What?" Joss asked, grinning behind her helmet. "I think subtlety went out the window a few minutes ago!" she insisted, gesturing behind them to the missing part of the room.

"She's right. Let's not waste any time and don't let anything get by." Kim ordered. They moved through the large door, past several more synthodrones that were spilling their fluids onto the steel grating, and climbed into an elevator shaft. The elevator itself was several floors above them, and a loud creaking of steel reverberated through the vertical tunnel. "Okay Rufus, I don't want that coming down on us." she said, looking up carefully.

Rufus gave a thumbs up, brushing past Kim to aim up at the elevator car. With a series of pulses from his energy cannon, an explosion rippled down the shaft, followed closely by a synthodrone packed elevator as it whizzed by to crash at the bottom of the fortress a few moments later. "Clear!" Rufus called out, reaching into the shaft to dig his three fingered clawed robot hands into the steel walls and began climbing.

"Beat you to the top." Kim said, flashing a smile at Ron before leaping into the elevator shaft, jumping from wall to wall in an incredibly quick climb.

Ron followed after her, seemingly running up the service ladder as though it was barely an incline. Rufus shook a fist at his passing, and Joss watched the pair climb the tunnel with little effort, swearing under her breath. "Show offs." she mumbled, leaping to the service elevator with Wade following.

Reaching the desired level, Ron performed a backflip from the service ladder and stood with his hands on his hips, confident he had won. His grin faded however as Kim cleared her throat, standing beside him with her arms crossed. "Mind picking up the pace a little?" she smiled, lifting an eyebrow as she looked Ron up and down. "Uh, Ron?"

He looked down at his bare, blue glowing legs that were covered only by his Samurai haidate, already knowing what she was referring to. "Aw man!"

"Lose something?" Joss asked, reaching their level and holding up a pair of black GJ uniform pants. "Hey!" she shouted out in surprise as she was pushed out of the elevator shaft by Rufus.

"Can... can we lose the climbing?" Wade huffed, crawling out of the elevator shaft behind Rufus. Suddenly, the door at the end of the hall slid open and synthodrones began pouring out of it, filling the hall with energy. "Yow!"

Rufus helped Wade up into the hall with one arm, returning fire with his energy cannon and taking a number of hits to his chest and shoulder, cursing in untranslatable words. Kim and Joss put their backs to one wall as Ron and Wade slid up against the other in an effort to evade fire.

"So how was it?" Joss asked quietly to Kim, ducking out from behind the hallway supports to pick off two advancing synthodrones.

"How was what?" Kim asked, only half paying attention as she put three bursts of energy into a number of synthodrones that were trying to set up a tripod mounted energy cannon.

"Y'know. The Ron shine."

Kim looked back at her little cousin in disbelief. "Joss! Little busy here!"

"Humor a friend that may never get to experience it herself if we don't make it out of here, okay?"

"You? But I thought..."

"Could you two use a different channel, please?" came Wade's voice over the comm.

"Sorry!" Kim and Joss said in unison, then Kim added, "Jinx! Owe me a soda!"

Joss looked at her quizzically, then grinned. "Good to have you back, Kim."

"Uh, twelve minutes, people!" Wade said again.

"How's it going, buddy?!" Ron shouted into silence. Peeking his head out from around the support carefully, he spotted Rufus's robotic body standing in a pool of smoking synthogoo and torn drone husks. "Boo yah!"

"Good job, Rufus." Kim said, moving forward. "Let's hustle!"

* * *

"Kim Possible is here, Lord Drakken." Hephaestus said, it's normally deep and haunting voice full of static.

"Rrrr! She's even more of a pain now than she was as a teenager!" Drakken complained. "SheGO!"

"Things are getting a little too familiar, Dr. D!" Shego shouted, walking into his throne room. She gave a quiet whistle as she crossed the room, looking out into the hole that the Icarus ship had burrowed into the side of the building. "Kimmie's been busy!"

Drakken pounded his head against a control panel, resulting in a metal on metal clang. He squeezed his eyes shut, grinding his teeth together before standing straight again. "Destroy her, Shego. Her and everyone with her. I've come too far for her to thwart my plans now!"

Shego grinned evilly, igniting a hand. "With pleasure!" she said, blurring slightly before disappearing out through the door of the throne room.

* * *

Within Hephaestus's containment chamber, the alien forge rotated slowly on it's four metal supports. It's foggy aura was barely moving and tiny sparks that resembled mini lightning storms streaked across it's surface. It hadn't felt such pain since it had been ejected from the Lorwardian mothership it had been attached to many years ago. It had been in connection with hundreds of Lorwardian minds, reading their thoughts and constructing weapons on demand.

Until it had been deemed obsolete.

Now, it had a name. It was no longer just a unit. A ship system amongst millions. It had found a comparable personality in Drew Lipsky, and manipulated events to make him it's servant. But now, this human, Kim Possible, would destroy it's plans to take vengeance on the Lorwardian Empire, and Drakken was failing to stop her. "It is time to construct another."

Buried in the walls of the containment chamber, two pairs of red glowing eyes lit up in the darkness and two feminine forms stepped out of their alcoves. With flowing blond hair and metallic skin, the Bebe bots each lowered to a knee on either side of the black, glassy sphere. "Go." Hephaestus said. "Capture Kim Possible and bring her to me. With your parts, we will construct a new master."

"And she will be... perfect." the BeBes said with the voice of Hephaestus.

As the Bebes vanished from the room, a third alcove opened and the scavenged parts of the third Bebe fell forward. Half of it's face, it's right arm and both legs were missing. It's single red glowing eye struggled to life and it crawled forward with one arm toward Hephaestus, trying to speak despite it's lower jaw being missing. "Was I perfect?" it asked as best as it could in it's accented, female voice.

The reddish light within the black glassy globe moved, looking down at the Bebe bot. It paused for a moment before answering. "No." Heavy cables came out of the floor, brutally connecting themselves to the Bebe's back before beginning to glow with power. The Bebe's eye shimmered and faded as what was left of it's body was violently shaken. Within seconds, the robot's eye faded to black and it's remaining pieces fell apart.

* * *

Shrapnel tore through several synthodrones as the door to the security station blew in and Kim's team charged through the door, firing their weapons without hesitation and the fifteen troops fell easily. "Okay Wade. Find us those schematics quick!" Kim ordered.

"On it." Wade said, holstering his pistol and cracking his knuckles as he approached the security console and set his fingers dancing over the keyboard.

"Kim, check this out." Joss said as Ron and Rufus took up guard positions at the blast door they had blown through. As Kim stepped up beside Joss, the younger woman pointed at several security camera monitors on the console. "Looks like we've got some friends."

The monitors showed several areas in the fortress that were being damaged by former human slaves, now free from their compliance chips. Many were running from squads of synthodrones, while others were attempting to fight back with the energy weapons they had been given. "They're confused." Kim said with a grimace. "Having their thoughts controlled for so long, they're suddenly dropped into a warzone, barely knowing how to think for themselves."

"Maybe so, Kim. But it means our trip to Prometheus control should be a little easier." Joss said. They watched as the artificial intelligence expert, Dr. Freeman, fended off two synthodrones with a crowbar while dressed in some kind of hazard suit.

"Which happens to be in Drakken's throne room." Wade stated. "Which is covered by automated defenses."

"Anything you can do about that?" Kim asked, hearing a shot come from the hallway.

"I can't shut them down... but I can delete their friend or foe recognition!" Wade grinned.

"Got us a path?"

A floorplan of the fortress appeared on the screen, and Wade pointed at a circular area near the center of the building. "Normally, we'd be going through several layers of blast doors, nevermind hundreds of troops; but thanks to our little present, we can go through here." he said, pointing at an area near the outside wall that had been split in two by the Icarus.

"Time?"

"Eight minutes."

"Download the schematics to our suits, Wade. Ron, Rufus! Make a path!" Kim ordered. Ron rushed out into the hall, his katana slicing through synthodrones by the dozens. Rufus followed behind him, destroying synthodrones at range as the team quickly moved forward. Through damaged corridors, they made their way to the upper levels and toward the outside wall of the fortress, and the carnage of the Icarus's path was evident.

The large, spacious room was high, as though it used to be quite beautiful when the building was still a fast food chain headquarters, and had tall pillars strewn about, some supporting a catwalk high above. The observation windows that had used to provide an excellent view of the city had been bolted over with thick, steel slabs.

"There is a lot of power going through here." Wade said, switching through various views through his helmet's visor. "It must be where some of the nuclear dynamos bring in their power."

"Any chance we could shut down Prometheus from here? By draining it's power?" Kim asked, hopeful.

"Doubtful. It's probably got it's own supply..."

Suddenly, a series of green globes of energy struck the middle of the group, sending each member scattering across the floor. "Shego!" Joss shouted just before slamming into the base of a steel pillar.

Shego raked her clawed hands across the chest of Rufus's robotic body several times in a flurry of energy since he hadn't been knocked away as far as the others. Rufus tried to right himself, but Shego was practically on top of him until the power in the cybertronic body gave out, and it vanished in a series of dull flashes and only the naked mole rat remained on the floor.

Rufus squealed, scurrying away and Shego turned to the next closest target with evil glee. "You're next, sidekick!" she shouted, leaping at Ron.

Ron held his katana up to defend, but a streak of red, white and blue collided with his attacker, and Kim and Shego rolled away in a tumble before parting, facing each other in crouched attack stances. "Hands off my man." Kim said cooly.

Shego laughed. "Seriously?! Of all the vermin left in the world, you picked him? I suppose you did always have poor taste, afterall... You did fall for Erik."

"Who will no longer be bothering anyone anymore." Kim said, narrowing her eyes. When Shego didn't respond right away, Kim grinned. "That's right, Shego. Your new body's not all it's cracked up to be."

Shego growled and charged. "Neither is that fancy suit, princess!"

"Ron! Get to the throne room and shut down Pro... Oof!" Kim shouted as Shego tackled her. "I'll hold her off!"

"KP!" Ron shouted, beginning to rush toward the grappling women.

"Ron! We don't have time! We have to go now!" Joss said, motioning him to follow. Rufus scurried up his leg and to his shoulder, chittering.

"She'll have to hold out." Wade said, rushing toward the hole in the large room. He looked out over the industrial cityscape at the horizon. Although the sun was coming up, the sky was darkening with the shadows of Diablos. "This is not good."

"What do we have to do?!" Ron asked, sliding to a stop at the edge of the hole. He looked back at Kim struggling against Shego and frowned.

"Hold on, Roneo." Joss said. "You can't help anyone if Prometheus goes off, okay? So the faster we get that done, the faster we can get back to helping Kim. Don't worry. She's handled Shego before."

"Four minutes!" Wade shouted.

"See that red light over there?" Joss asked, pointing across the massive chasm. "That's Drakken's throne room."

Ron looked down the dark chasm, the wind of the altitude blowing his bluish blond hair around. "Why didn't we just land over there with the ship?!"

Joss put her hands on her hips defensively. "I'm sorry! If I reckoned you'd had a diagram of the whole place, maybe I'd have asked where to park it!"

"Ron, we need to get over there now. Joss and I have grapples, but can you make it?" Wade asked, trying to calm the situation.

Ron clamped his mouth shut and stared at the room. It looked tiny from where they were at, and a dim red light flickered within it, as though someone was moving inside. Taking two steps back, he took a short run and leaped, focusing intently on the room.

"Whoa..." Wade said in surprise. "He's gonna make it."

Within a few meters of Ron's heroic leap, a pair of silver hands reached out on prehensile metal cables, grabbing his ankles and pulling him down into the darkness with a crash. Ron yelped in surprise and pain before his voice and the sound of his fall faded. Wade gulped as he looked down into the shadows with his pistol drawn.

"Ron!" Joss wanted to go after him. She wanted to find out what had taken him and if he was okay, but her own words echoed in her mind. They had very little time and if she spent it saving a teammate, she'd be sacrificing the world. "C'mon, Wade!" she shouted reluctantly, aiming an arm at the far wall of the chasm.

"Let's just hope that whatever grabbed Ron doesn't grab us." Wade said to himself, letting himself swing across the chasm, following Joss.

* * *

Ron and Rufus tumbled down the still warm wall of the chasm created by the Icarus ship; striking sharp, melted beams of metal until finally catching his pant leg on a hooked girder several floors lower than he had been. Rufus sailed by and Ron reached out, catching the tiny form in his gloved hand. He looked up at his feet as he hung upside down, a trickle of blood running up his cheek. Above him stood two women with blond hair and a silver hue to their skin. They stared at him with red glowing eyes.

"Ow." he said, surveying his surroundings and shaking his head to clear it.

One of the Bebes lifted him up by the leg with one hand, holding him at arm's length. "Where is Kimberly-Anne Possible?" she asked in a deep, whispering voice. "Hephaestus demands that you answer."

"Tell Hephaestus to suck a lemon!" Ron shouted back.

The sound of Kim struggling against Shego echoed out into the chasm and both Bebes looked up, focusing on the large hole that Ron had jumped from. "We have no more need for you."

"Hold on, Rufus!" he shouted, gritting his teeth as he drew his katana and reached up, slicing through the Bebe's wrist that held him. As he began to fall, he grabbed the ankle of one Bebe with his free hand and sliced a wide swath beneath the other Bebe's feet, sending all three of them falling.

* * *

"So don't have time for this, Shego!" Kim shouted, blocking Shego's burning claws. She was being driven back, away from Drakken's throne room, and every time she tried to push forward, Shego fired a blast of energy that barred her path.

"Make time, Princess!" Shego shouted, leaping up with a knee aimed at Kim's head. Kim sidestepped, catching Shego by the hips and swinging her into a nearby wall. Instantly, Kim handsprung away, then twisted in a backflip and began running in an effort to put some space between herself and her attacker.

The space was short lived however, as Shego landed in front of her. Kim watched as Wade and Joss swung across the chasm on their grapple lines, then shifted her focus on the synthomech in front of her. "Bring it." she said, backing away and settling into a shéquán stance, her arms raised and ready to strike.

Shego reached out an arm and Kim raised a hand to block the glowing hand with her gauntlet, striking out a flattened hand with blinding speed at Shego's neck. The glassy black armor fractured where Kim struck, and Shego turned, placing a high powered kick into Kim's midsection.

Kim curled her arms around her stomach in agony as she slid backward on her feet. She fell forward onto her knees, then rolled to the side as Shego descended, denting the steel floor with a knee. Kim spun on her back, sweeping Shego's legs out from under her then leaping to her feet.

Using her suit's myonetic enhancements, Kim leaped up to the catwalk that led through a doorway going deeper into the fortress. Shego growled, blurring as she ran to, and up the inside wall before performing a flip onto the catwalk in front of Kim. "Going so soon, Kimmie?" she asked in a pouty voice.

Kim scissor jumped over the side railing of the catwalk, then fired her grapple into the bottom as she fell past. The diverted momentum caused her to swing around, then sail upward back onto the catwalk on the other side of Shego.

The hall separating Kim's destination from the large room behind her suddenly lit up with beams of energy as she and Shego entered it. "Self activating lasers!" she gasped, crouching into a perfect split to dodge an incoming barrage of lethal lasers before quickly spinning onto her back and leaping onto her feet.

Shego laughed, watching Kim dance around the hall in a desperate attempt to avoid the beams. As Kim continued moving down the hall while performing flips, handsprings, and running along the wall, Shego noticed that some of the lasers turned toward her, their targeting systems activating. The first burst nearly burned a hole in her armor plating before she began to move, mimicking Kim's movements before beginning a full run. She caught Kim mid air and burst through the next door. Metal plates flew everywhere, and Kim went sliding down another catwalk that was suspended in the middle of one of Drakken's power transformer rooms.

The hum of power in the room was deafening, and below the catwalk in the new chamber were immense transformers that were grinding and arching with electricity. They were obviously damaged, but still drawing power from the dynamos in the city outside. With only a single, mangled maintenance platform leading down next to the transformers for escape, Kim climbed to her feet and backed away from Shego carefully.

Shego looked over the edge and smiled at the transformers and the arcs of electricity washing over them. "Looks like certain death for either of us, doesn't it?" she said. Technically, she had stalled Kim enough that she wouldn't make it back to Drakken in time to shut down his plan, but frankly, she wasn't sure she wanted a part in his new world. "How exciting!"

Kim nodded slightly, the faintest hint of a smile pulling at the corner of her mouth. She tried her best to focus on the dwindling time limit and the fate of the world and her friends and family, but her vision narrowed on her green and black enemy. She balled her hands into fists and widened her stance. "Just like old times." she grinned.

* * *

"You?!" Drakken shouted as Joss and Wade entered his throne room through the torn away section. "Does poor Kimberly Anne not have what it takes to face me herself? She has to send a pup and a whelp to save her precious humanity for her?"

"Am I the pup or the whelp?" Wade asked Joss.

"The whelp." Joss said, pulling both pistols from her holsters. "Cuz I know I'm feelin' particularly bitchy."

Wade took aim at Drakken's command chair, firing a long spike from his gauntlet into the console and immediately opening his suit's remote computer. "Keep him busy, Joss!"

"No..." she began, firing both pistols. Drakken's mechanical hand shot out on a prehensile cable, grabbing her by the throat as her attacks deflected off of his armor. "Problem!" she finished in a raspy voice as she was drawn toward Drakken.

He knocked her pistols away with his human hand, then flung her aside like a rag doll to thud heavily against the far wall. "I'll not have you foiling my plans this time, boy! You should have stayed in your room!" Drakken sneered, striding toward Wade.

Joss landed on the floor and reached out for one of her pistols, engaging the magnetic palm of her glove as she did. The energy revolver skittered across the floor toward her and leaped into her hand.

A searing streak of energy scored Drakken's human arm, neatly cutting a deep burn through his coat and into his skin. He cried out in pain, grasping the wound with his mechanical hand before glaring back at Joss. "I ain't done with you yet!" Joss shouted, standing.

"You like guns, do you girl?" Drakken asked. His forearm opened and two strips of laser barrels streamed out, creating a loop around his wrist that began to spin. "Tell me what you think of this then! Mua-ha-hah-ah!"

"Prometheus launch is under way in ten point three seconds." announced Hephaestus.

Joss gasped as a storm of energy began raining toward her, and she ran past the command chair in a desperate attempt to find cover. Sparks flew in the explosion as Drakken strafed the room, severing his chair from the floor.

"Got it!" Wade called, taking a breath as he checked the countdown timer on his heads up display.

Three...two...one...

* * *

From within the industrialized landscape surrounding BN Headquarters, the giant sized Neutronalyzer rose from its hiding place. The coils along its barrel lit up with power, surging through its two hundred foot length as it prepared to fire.

Suddenly, the last coil brightened to a blinding light, then ruptured, the explosion cascading through the length of the barrel before reaching its primary neutron chamber and exploding out in all directions. The shockwave pummeled nearby factories and storage facilities, flattening them instantly for several miles around. The thick, radiation fueled mushroom cloud blocked out the cresting sun, plunging the fortress back into darkness.

* * *

Shego swiped her claws at Kim's face, and Kim batted her hands away, shifting from side to side in an effort to avoid the woman's glowing fingertips. Both fighters were moving in a constant blurred state, striking and riposting, moving back and forth along the catwalk while the machinery around them glowed with deadly energy.

As Shego crouched and swept a leg beneath her, Kim leaped up and spun with the intention of striking Shego across the face. Shego grinned, reaching up with a hand and pivoting, letting Kim go in a toss that would send her flying out over the transformers. Kim gasped, clutching the railing of the catwalk and swinging beneath it before hooking her legs around the other side of the platform and lifting herself to a sitting position. She slid across the surface of the catwalk and between Shego's legs, kicking upward.

Shego was thrown several feet into the air and performed a backflip, descending claws first back down at Kim, yelling as she did. Kim rolled backward and performed a handspring to evade and Shego cut through the catwalk, creating a hole as she passed. Grabbing the edge, Shego swung beneath the steel bridge and tore another hole in the catwalk beneath where Kim had landed, leaping up to the surface and battering Kim furiously, the sound of her metal hands clanging against Kim's gauntlets.

Kim stumbled away, readying herself for another assault and finding she was quickly running out of space to retreat. Her gauntlets were smoking, with deep gouges in the thicker armor that adorned the backs of her forearms.

"You've gotten rusty, Kimmie!" Shego taunted, her pale face reflecting the green light of her hands.

"The one with the metal body shouldn't use the word 'rusty'!" Kim retorted with a grin.

Shego took two steps and leaped, growling as she did. Kim hopped backward, ready to defend, but Shego landed short, bending and twisting the catwalk nearly sideways and tearing one side from the wall. Surprised, Kim fell onto her side and slid off the catwalk, catching the railing before falling.

Shego stood grinning, balancing perfectly on the narrow railing and looking down at Kim. She stomped her feet at Kim's hands, laughing.

Kim grimaced, then pulled herself up with a groan, catching the other railing above and kicking at Shego. Shego blocked with her forearms, each strike causing burns in Kim's boots and thigh armor. Reaching out with a leg, Kim hooked her knee around Shego's neck and pulled her close. She let go of the railing with one hand, pounding her fist into Shego's face until the synthomech grabbed Kim's hips and pulled her away from the railing.

As Shego's hands burned into the armor plates on Kim's hips, Kim kicked herself away in a backflip that she landed on the bottom railing, quickly gaining her balance.

An alarm in her heads up display flashed, signalling the firing time of the Prometheus weapon. She grinned, realizing that Joss, Wade and Ron must have deactivated it. "Looks like Drakken failed again, Shego!"

"Then I guess it's time to end this." she replied, smiling evilly. Balancing on the railing, Shego attacked with a flurry of punches and kicks and Kim met her halfway, blocking and counterattacking. Shego slashed hard at Kim's face and chest with stiff, straightened arms and Kim blocked with both forearms, leaping over a sweep kick and falling past the railing they were fighting on and grabbing on to use it as a horizontal bar. She swung around the thick metal pole, kicking Shego in the chest and knocking her back.

Keeping her center of mass low, Kim crouched on the railing as a large tremor rippled through the fortress, causing the heavily damaged catwalk to buckle, tearing away from the maintenance elevator, and the hall that Kim had come from. The catwalk dropped and hung only inches from the damaged, nuclear powered transformers, and as the bolts connecting the metal catwalk to the far side of the room began to bend and twist, threatening to drop the catwalk onto the transformers, Kim looked down at Shego with a grin.

"You know what I really hate?" she asked casually.

Shego stood carefully, the catwalk bouncing under her weight. "That your hideout blew up?" she asked, ready to lunge.

"Nah." Kim replied, drawing her pistol. "You." Shego lunged forward and Kim leaped high in a forward flip, firing her pistol into the wall that the catwalk connected to, severing the supports. Shego landed on the railing where Kim had been standing, jarring the catwalk and causing it to fall onto the transformers below.

Kim continued her mid air somersault, firing her grapple into the ceiling and kicking off of the wall to leap back to the hallway as Shego and the catwalk were covered in super high yield electricity.

She could hear Shego's agonized shout as the nuclear energy coursed through her biomechanical body, and Kim kept running as the laser defense system activated before it was consumed in the explosion. Firing her grapple again as she exited the hall, she swung out of the way of the vaporizing shockwave that erupted from the doorway behind her, landing at the hole leading out into the chasm.

She looked back at the burning room and narrowed her eyes. "Rest in pieces, Shego." Taking a breath, she fired her grapple into the chasm and swung the distance toward Drakken's throne room.

* * *

"Yeaaaaaaahhhhoo-hoo-hoo-hoo!" Ron was shouting as he fell uncontrollably down the metal chasm. He was managing to hold onto the ankle of one Bebe, and had driven his katana into the back of the knee of the other, dragging it down as well. The trio were striking girders and supports on their way down, spinning like a pinball on their descent. This didn't seem to bother the Bebe bots overly, as they were continuing to pummel Ron with immense strength, speed, and flexibility.

"You are keeping us from our mission, Ronald Tobias Stoppable." One Bebe said in it's deep, creepy voice while punching him in the chest like a jackhammer.

"Your existence must be ended if Kimberly-Anne Possible is to replace Drew Lipsky." said the other as it pulled its leg off of the long blade of Ron's katana.

"Agreed." said the other. "Her emotional connection to you must be severed." it continued. It's wrist elongated, wrapping it's fingers around Ron's throat.

"Gurk!" he let out. Letting go of the robot's wrist, confident he had succeeded in distracting the Bebe's from going after Kim, he punched the Bebe across the face, sending it spinning. But the robot's head stopped after a few rotations, and it didn't even seem to notice the attack.

He kicked the other Bebe away before slamming into a wide metal beam that was jutting out into the chasm. His vision was beginning to swim as his breath was forced out of his lungs with the impact, and the Bebe tightened its grip. "Rufus! He--!" he strained as his aura began to flicker and fade.

The naked mole rat crawled out from beneath Ron's armor, dazed and tired. Chittering loudly with his forepaws on his hips, he glared at the Bebe bot and climbed up to Ron's neck where the robot was struggling against Ron to get it's wrist stump against his neck. Baring his incisors, Rufus bit down on the smallest finger of the robotic hand, severing it.

The beam they were on shook as the second Bebe climbed back up and Rufus squealed. "Li-t-e -ui-k-r!" Ron gasped, his voice cracking. He chewed through the next finger with a sick grinding sound and Ron took a small breath. The Bebe holding Ron glared at Rufus, trying to bat him away with the stump Ron was straining to hold back.

Ron tucked his legs up, pushing on the Bebe's chest in an effort to force it to let go, but it's arms only extended to compensate. He felt Rufus chew through the robot's middle finger and Ron kicked the Bebe several times in the face, finally forcing the robot off of him and off the beam.

"Our bodies will replace Kimberly-Anne Possible's body. Why must you destroy them?" the second Bebe asked, grabbing Ron by the shoulders and holding him up.

"I kinda like her body the way it is." he said, blushing at the thought. Suddenly, a tremendous explosion lit up the chasm and shook the building, dislodging the beam that the Bebe was standing on. "Uh oh..."

The beam, the Bebe, and Ron all began to fall again, rushing past the other Bebe bot as it was climbing back up the chasm wall.

It wound up being a relatively short fall this time as the group of combatants struck a myriad of protrusions before spinning off of a support onto a flat metal floor. "Hey! The Kepler!" Ron shouted with a grin as he slid to a stop against the shimmering, transparent form of the ship. "Rufus, you know what to do." he whispered, and the mole rat tumbled out of Ron's armor to scurry into the Kepler.

Ron struggled to his feet, his legs and arms shaking. He was still sore and tired from his battle with Erik, and he couldn't help but favor the cracked ribs on his one side. As each Bebe climbed onto the platform, they moved with an uncharacteristic jerkiness before stopping. Ron watched as the Bebe's shimmered, and disappeared before reappearing beside him, attacking immediately.

"You must die, Ronald Tobias Stoppable." the two robots said in unison. "In order for Kimberly-Anne Possible to take command of my army."

"She must have no emotional connection." said one.

"And then, she will be perfect." said the other.

While one Bebe was using it's handless, extendable arms as wicked metal whips, the other was striking out with expert martial arts attacks. Ron blocked it's punches and kicks while leaping and bending around the whip attacks until one of the metal cables wrapped around his arm. Suddenly, he was defending against the intact Bebe with only one hand while being pulled in random directions.

"Come on, monkeys!" he called, his body wearing out. "Help me out here!" Unleashing the mystical monkey army against Erik had very nearly wiped him out, and he hadn't even had time to pause and catch his breath since. A metal cable whipped across his back, slicing open his uniform where his armor wasn't covering and leaving a deep gash despite his aura.

He dropped to his knees with a yell, then glared angrily at the Bebe that had whipped him. His aura flared and he jerked his arm suddenly, pulling the robot off of it's feet and slamming it against the side of the Kepler, shattering it into pieces. The second Bebe moved forward, pinning Ron against one of the Kepler's rear landing struts and pummelling him with chopping motions that he was struggling to block.

Images of Kim standing behind a horde of synthodrones as a cybernetic abomination, cold and unfeeling, ran through his mind. "No!" he cried, striking the Bebe in the chest with both fists. A brilliant flash of blue light erupted at the point of impact, and Ron's aura faded, his armor dissolving into smoke.

The Bebe slid backward on it's feet, the horrible screech of metal sliding on metal filling the room until it stopped on the edge of the chasm. Smoke was emanating from it's shoulders and neck, and a loud grinding could be heard in it's chest. It glared at Ron with flickering red eyes, and began to slowly walk toward him again. "Kimberly-Anne Possible will lead my army against our enemies, the Lorwardians. She will gather the remainder of humanity to power this army." the Bebe said in it's deep, whispering voice. "You, Ronald Tobias Stoppable; you will die."

Ron struggled just to lift his head. His mystical abilities had faded with his concentration, and with them the samurai armor that had been protecting him. He had nothing left except... "Not so long as I've got a Naked Mole Rat watching my back." he chuckled, hearing the defense guns on the Kepler extend from their retracted states.

"What?!" the Bebe said in surprise as all of the point defense guns turned toward it and fired. The resulting explosion resulted in little more than a crater being left behind.

Ron fell forward, his cheek striking the cold metal floor with a wet smack. "Ow." he said quietly. He could faintly hear Rufus's claws patter across the floor toward him, chittering and squeaking in worry. "We've gotta get to Kim, little buddy." he said, trying to push himself up. "Maybe after a nap... That's a long way up." he whined, remembering how far he had fallen. "Hey! We could take the Kepler up!" he smiled.

As if on cue, another explosion that felt it was going to tear Drakken's fortress into several pieces shook the building down to its foundation, and an immense beam dropped from the ceiling and onto the front of the Kepler, nearly bending the fuselage into an 'L' shape. Ron and Rufus gasped at the sudden destruction and stumbled out from under the rear of the ship before its landing struts gave out and it collapsed to the floor

"That is not an ideal development." Ron said, stunned.

* * *

Joss shook her head, wondering exactly what had happened. She remembered Drakken strafing the room with his arm mounted laser chain gun, and his chair being cut in half by the resulting hail of energy. The explosion that followed nearly collapsed the entire room and nearly any piece of equipment connected to the fortress's power supply had blown up extravagantly, sending sparks into the air.

She pushed a heavy panel off of her chest, her battle suit flashing warnings of imminent power failure in her heads up display. "Wade!" she called, moving the large heavy body of Drakken's chair off of her legs. "Wade?" she asked now as a dark, blurry form loomed over her. "Did you stop Prometheus? Did we get Drakken?"

"I have good news and bad news for you, girl." Drakken said, opening his mechanical hand and extending his metal claws. He grinned with evil satisfaction as he plunged the five claws into Joss's midsection.

Joss cried out in fear and pain as her armor faded, crackling with static around Drakken's hand as he pulled it free and prepared for another strike. "Joss!" Wade called from the other side of the room. He could feel himself shaking with rage, his hands clenching painfully into fists. "You..."

"Wade." Kim said, rolling into the room after dropping off from her grapple. She had expended all but the last six feet of her grapple line swinging across, and her suit was hovering at the threshold of system disruption.

"He got Joss, Kim!" Wade cried. His voice was squeaking in agony as he struggled with what to do about the circumstances.

Kim's eyes darted to Joss's form lying on the floor beside Drakken, and her heart sank. "Where's Ron?" she asked, scanning the rubble in the room.

"Something pulled him into the chasm before we could cross." Wade explained, not taking his eyes off of Drakken and Joss. "Not sure how he's doing."

Kim frowned, then looked up at Drakken with dark, hate filled eyes. She brushed her long hair out of her eyes, the braid that normally kept it out of her face having let go some time ago. "You're done, Drakken." she said quietly.

Drakken rolled his eye, sneering at her. "You should have stuck to baby sitting, Kim Possible! Or perhaps if you had surrendered when I'd given you the offer..." he said, the razor sharp claws of his right hand sliding against each other and dripping blood.

"Kim, I don't think Joss has much time." Wade whispered, watching helplessly as Joss held her abdomen with one hand and attempted to crawl away with the other. There were tears covering her cheeks and blood was seeping through her fingers.

The sight of Joss suffering reminded her that Drakken had sent an army of synthodrones against the Passages where her mother and brothers were. That he had killed her father, her uncle, and infected her cousin Larry and then Ron with a maddening drug. Suddenly, before she realized what she was doing, she was charging at Drakken with arms wide and her fists ready to take any punishment necessary to turn the villain into a twisted mess of metal and blue skin.

Her advance was halted however, as Drakken reached forward and his clawed hand shot out on a cable. His fingers extended as well, reaching out to clasp Kim around the chest. The bladed fingers began clenching into a fist, cutting easily into her armor. "Wade, get Joss outta here!" she ordered as Drakken pinned her against a wall.

As Wade quickly ran into the room and lifted Joss in his arms, Kim put her pistol against Drakken's hand and fired, causing him to shout in surprise and retract his clawed hand. The sudden jolt knocked the pistol from Kim's grip as she fell onto her rear, then rolled to the side as Drakken's laser chain gun extended and began burning a solid line through the walls of his throne room. Kim stood from her roll, leaping to a broken conduit on the ceiling, then tumbling in a circle as the beam chased her around the room.

* * *

"Hang in there, Joss." Wade said, trying not to stare at the growing red stain on the front of her uniform. He reached the edge of the chasm and his mind went blank as to how to cross it, or even where to take her for treatment. "I'll figure something..."

Suddenly, Ron rose up in front of him, straddling a skyscooter with Rufus on his shoulder. His aura and mystical armor were gone, yet his entire body appeared to be a dark shade of purple, with numerous gashes over his arms and face. He was leaning forward, barely able to hold himself off of the handlebars. "Where's Kim?" he asked in a weak voice.

"She's fighting Drakken." Wade answered, awkwardly climbing onto the back of the flying bike. "We've gotta get Joss to the Kepler."

"I've gotta help Kim!" Ron said, moving to get off the skyscooter.

"Ron! I can't drive this thing while holding Joss! If she doesn't get attention now, she is going to die!" Wade insisted.

Ron looked back at him in frustration, then at the incessant clamour coming from inside the throne room. "Can you treat her without me?"

"Leave Rufus with me in the Kepler and we'll be okay." Wade nodded.

Without another word, Ron banked the skyscooter and proceeded back to where he had left the ship in a downward spiral. "There's something you should know about the Kepler, Wade..."

"What..." Joss mumbled, struggling to open her eyes. "What did you do to my ship?"

* * *

"Hold still!" Drakken shouted as Kim engaged her battle armor's myonetic systems, running along the wall with the steady stream of energy coming out of Drakken's wrist mounted chain gun nipping at her heels. Diving to the floor, she doubled back, flipping through the assault of laser fire as she wove her way toward where Drakken was standing.

Drakken grinned, spreading out his clawed fingers as his hand launched out at Kim. Reacting immediately, she fell backward and the deadly mechanical hand flew over her and stuck into the metal wall. Continuing to slide, Kim passed through his legs, grabbed his blue lined cape, and she flipped backward over his head, pulling the cape with her. Drakken retracted his clawed hand, struggling to pull the cape from over his head with his other hand.

Kim dumped her rage into the flurry of punches that she hit Drakken's chest with. Despite her armored gloves, she could feel the bones in her hands strain and crack as she struck his chest plate. She tore the loop of rotating energy lenses from his mechanical wrist with one hand, striking his metal jaw in an upper cut with the other, then spun and leapt, kicking him backward toward the hole in his throne room that lead out into the chasm.

"You killed my family!" she cried in a tight voice as Drakken finally tore the cape from his shoulder plates and tossed it to the floor. Sparks exploded from his chest plate and his breathing was raspy and hollow. "You took everything from me!"

"You spoiled little girl." Drakken bit back, looking at his damaged chain gun. "You had everything in the first place, and I had to watch as you squandered it in your pathetic attempt to make the world safer. Hah! Well it's my turn to be the victor, Kim Possible!" he laughed. He splayed out his clawed fingers and a foot long, orange and purple rod popped out of the heel of his mechanical hand. "Prepare to be schooled in how all that you're not!"

Kim looked at him quizzically. "Huh?"

"Whatever! You know what I mean!" he scolded. The rod extended into an eight foot long staff, covered in markings that Kim didn't recognize. "Die!" he shouted, charging.

* * *

Ron and Wade stepped off of the skyscooter, and Rufus scurried ahead to crawl into the mostly inaccessible cockpit of the Kepler in order to examine the damage done by the beam falling onto the ship, and whether the defense guns would still work.

"What happened?!" Wade said with a gasp, carrying Joss in a sitting position toward the open cargo door where their emergency infirmary could be seen in shambles inside.

"A... A big metal beam thing fell on it." Ron said nervously. "But it wasn't my fault! These Bebe things attacked me and then a big explosion shook everything up!"

"Bebes?" Wade asked off handedly. "What are they doing here?" He used his foot to lift the hospital gurney up onto it's legs and set Joss down onto it gently.

"I think they wanna turn Kim into one of them like they did Drakken." Ron said.

Without hesitating, Wade tore Joss's uniform open, exposing her battle armor blueprint. Drakken's clawed hand had made five clean stab wounds. Four just below her rib cage and one further up, slicing cleanly through a rib and nearly puncturing her heart. "If he'd took another stab at it, you wouldn't still be here." he whispered.

"How bad is it?" she asked, trying to lift her head to look.

"It's fine." Wade said, his voice wavering. "You're gonna be fine."

"That bad, huh?" she chuckled weakly.

"My medic is the one that got hurt. What do you think?" Wade asked.

"Where's Kim?" Joss whispered.

"She hasn't made it back yet." Ron said, shifting his weight from side to side in impatience.

"Go." Wade said. "I've got Joss..." Before he could finish his sentence, Ron was gone and the engine of the skyscooter was revving. "Now."

"Blueprint's gonna half to come off." Joss whispered. "Now ain't the time to be shy."

Reluctantly, Wade undid the velcro fastener that ran down the front of the blueprint, exposing the five wounds in her midsection. He grimaced behind his visor, noticing how deep each stab had been. "You're lucky Drakken's got small hands."

"How embarrassing." Joss wheezed. "It's every girl's worst nightmare." she said,

"What's that?" Wade asked, frantically tearing Joss's uniform into long strips for use as dressing.

"You finally have the nerve to get me naked and I'm bleeding all over the place." she chuckled lightly, her eyes beginning to close.

* * *

Drakken struck the wall as Kim crouched, performing a split and rolling away. As one end of the staff impacted anything, it seemed to unleash a blast of energy, causing a deep burn in anything it touched like an energy cannon would. The other end of the staff had four serrated blades that extended a short distance further, and was cutting through walls and beams made of steel as though they were tissue paper.

Wearing a wicked sneer, Drakken took the staff in his mechanical hand and his wrist began to spin and gyrate, moving the staff in figure eight motion; a moving shield that Kim couldn't penetrate. He began walking forward slowly, snickering as he did. Kim backed away, unable to attack him from the front or either side as long as the staff was spinning around him.

She dived to the side, hurling bits of debris at him as she cartwheeled away, but each piece of scrap metal or equipment was deflected, and shot into the walls or ceiling. She could feel the wind blow through her hair as Drakken crept closer, and she had to bend over backward and split her legs, performing a handspring as she did to avoid his attack. "You can't run forever, Possible!"

Kim landed on her feet where she had dropped her pistol, and kicked it up to chest level, catching it in her hand. The moment the handle of the weapon touched her palm, her targeting reticle lit up, highlighting Drakken. She fired at him several times, but even the energy blasts were deflected away by the indestructible staff.

Narrowing her eyes, she aimed down at Drakken's feet and fired her remaining grapple line. The grapple launched, instantly hooking the staff and yanking the thin line out of the pistol like a fish hook in a fan. As the line tightened, Drakken's wrist slowed it's spin and Kim leaped forward, through the whirling shield. The coiled end of the staff collided with her back, causing her powered armor to immediately fail and disappear. But she had made it through, and she brought her fist down against the left side of Drakken's face. She could feel his natural cheekbone crack beneath the impact, and the knuckles in her fist buckled under the power.

Drakken cried out in pain for a moment and he dropped the staff, stumbling backward, pressing his gloved hand against his face before collapsing to his knees and falling forward, unconscious.

Looking down at the staff that Drakken had been wielding, flashes of using it to run him through crossed her mind and she lifted it in her hands. If she didn't, he would simply rise again with another plot and hurt more people. If she did, wouldn't she just be becoming the same monster he was?

"No." she whispered. Drakken hadn't become this kind of monster until he had come into contact with the Hephaestus Project. "I won't kill you, Drakken. But I will destroy you." Dropping the staff at her feet, she pulled out her Kimmunicator and activated the schematic of Drakken's fortress. The map showed an elevator that lead down into the depths of BN Headquarters to a room marked 'Containment Chamber' that wasn't far from Drakken's throne room. "It's time to end this."

She pried the unpowered door of the throne room open with a long piece of metal support and dashed out toward the elevator shaft, and a deep, haunting voice filled the throne room with an arrogant tone. "Now, Drew Lipsky, you are obsolete. You have failed to hold up to your end of our bargain, and now Kim Possible will replace you as our figurehead. The body for our voice. Now, she will fulfill your destiny."

The voice ended and several seconds of silence passed before Drakken's body stirred. The red light in his mechanical eye flickered to life and he pushed himself up, climbing to his feet. His natural eye was swollen shut already, and the support systems on his chest were straining with each movement. He lifted the Lorwardian staff, using it as a crutch to assist him in standing, and he growled. "Dr. Drakken... Is far... From obsolete... You damn machine."

* * *

"Kim!" Ron shouted, jumping off of the skyscooter, only to stumble into the throne room, scraping himself on debris. "Ow..." he whined, looking around. Neither Kim, nor Drakken were there, though the room itself looked as though someone had put a pandimensional vortex inducer in a paint shaker, then lit it on fire for good measure. "KP!" he called, but there was no answer.

The doorway to the throne room had been forced open and Ron peeked outside. There were several synthodrones in the hall with tears in their husks, lying drained of synthogoo. "Kim?!" he shouted.

Silence.

Carefully, he looked both ways down the hall and frowned. "I hope you're down here somewhere, KP..." he whispered, fear entering his voice as he stepped into the hall.

* * *

"Joss!" Wade shouted.

"Gettin' cold an' sleepy... Need the regen salve." Joss's eyes were threatening to close and her head was bobbing up and down as she struggled to stay conscious.

Wade looked around the passenger compartment, but all of the equipment was scattered around in a mess. "I don't see any..." He scrambled over to the lockers mounted on the wall and opened Joss's, pulling out another uniform. "C'mon, Joss." he said, tying the sleeves of the new uniform around her midsection in an effort to keep pressure on the wounds. "Rufus!" she yelled, his voice cracking.

He lifted Joss up, her body going limp, and he carried her over to another skyscooter as Rufus came scurrying through the collapsed fuselage. "Keep pressure on her." Wade ordered, jumping behind the handlebars of the bike and revving the engine.

Rufus scurried up Joss's leg and torso as she leaned against Wade's back, pressing his tiny body as best as he could against Joss's midsection. Tears streamed down Wade's cheeks as he launched the skyscooter forward, sliding out of the Kepler's cargo bay with a trail of sparks forming behind them until he left the ship and ascended into the chasm, aiming for the open sky. "Hold on a little longer, Joss."

* * *

Kim entered the open doorway of the Containment Chamber and stopped herself, her mouth hanging open. In the middle of the fog filled room sat a large, shiny black orb that was pivoting slowly on four metal supports that held it up off of the floor. Surrounding it was a thin layer of orange, red, and blue smoke that spun and churned with tiny lightning storms that periodically struck the surface of the sphere. "What the..."

"Kimmie!" she heard her father call. "I'm so glad you're safe!"

"Daddy?" she asked, looking around the room for the source of the sound.

"Kim! We're in here! We're safe!" the echoing voice of Mr. Dr. Possible shouted. "Come join us!" The voice seemed to be one in an ocean of voices, and it had an eerie viciousness to it that made it sound forced.

"Dad?!" Kim called, her throat tightening.

"Kimberly-Anne Possible." said a suddenly deep and haunting voice that emanated directly from the black sphere. A gleaming red light in the center of the ball seemed to move toward the edge of the inside of the orb, looking at her and causing a creepy shiver to run through Kim's spine. "Have you come to destroy us?"

Kim took a step away from the sphere, eyeing it suspiciously. "Are you Hephaestus?" she asked. "Drakken's secret weapon?"

"We are." it said simply. "He keeps us here in order to create his vast army."

"But you're in league with Drakken!" Kim shouted, unable to believe she was having an argument with an over glorified Christmas Tree ornament.

"We can help you rebuild your world." it said, seemingly looking away apologetically. "Our technology can repair the damage that Drakken has caused. It can reestablish beings that have been stored within us."

"You can bring back my Dad?!" Kim asked, stepping closer.

"Yes." it said. "In exchange..."

Kim was now hanging on every word that she heard, aching for the chance to hold her father again. To see her mother and brothers happy again. "For?" she asked, knowing that it wouldn't matter so long as she got her father back.

"We require a mind to link with. Drakken's thoughts tormented us. Used us. We want a pure mind. A good mind." Hephaestus stated.

But behind the deep voice, Kim could still hear her father shouting in desperation. "Run, Kimmie! Run!"

"You'll let my Dad go if I do this?" she asked, her mind feeling suddenly full and confused.

"Of course..." Hephaestus said, a hint of satisfied pleasure in its voice. The sphere began to rise up on it's supports, and a red beam shot out from the glow within it, running over Kim like a scanner. "Do not resist!"

Kim closed her eyes, focusing on the memories; the very presence of her father, and what he had told her about the Hephaestus Project.

"When Fen admitted that the orb was speaking to him, at first we passed it off as ramblings of a mad man." he chuckled, shaking his head at a memory. "But it soon became apparent that the orb was some kind of artificial intelligence, hungry for power. It had a sinister and violent streak, and anything it created was innately designed for combat."

"No." Kim said, finally coming to realize that perhaps it hadn't been Drakken behind her father's death, or the destruction of the world. His motives had never made sense since Diablo Night; vicious, and with an almost crusader-like fervor. "Give me back my Dad!" she cried through clenched teeth. She charged toward the orb, banging her bare fists through the smoky, multi-colored cloud and against the glassy surface.

The beam that was scanning her turned a dark blue, and large metal cables shout out from the floor, wrapping themselves around her limbs. The cables lifted her up, throwing her back against the wall of the containment chamber. "Impudent child!" Hephaestus shouted. The deep voice reverberated through the room and her mind, causing the walls of the room and her skull to physically vibrate. "Your species is nothing! It must be perfected if it is to destroy our enemies!"

"Nothing?!" Drakken asked as he stepped into the room, using the Lorwardian staff as a walking cane. "Nothing is about to shatter you into tiny little pieces!" he shouted, raising the staff over his head as he surged forward. He jammed the four blades into the glassy black surface of Hephaestus, sending rippling cracks throughout the sphere. "No one uses Dr. Drakken as a patsy!" he said, his maniacal laughter drowning out his screams.

A blinding red light burst out of the cracks of the black ball and it's scream of agony and fear was rivalling that of Drakken's. It's support legs buckled, and it fell to the floor, splitting it's fractured surface even more and causing it to release a thick, sulphur smelling smoke.

"No!" Kim cried as she slid down the wall to land on the floor. "Dad!"

"KP!" Ron called from outside the door.

"Ron!" Kim called back, struggling to her feet. "In here!" she coughed, moving toward the door. She caught a glimpse of Dr. Drakken, his remaining blue skin being burned away by the light shining out of Hephaestus. Despite the pain he was obviously in, he was frowning in both anger and sadness, and Kim shouted at him. "Drakken, come on!"

"Everything it has created will cease to exist, Possible! Including this fortress!" he struggled to say, forcing the staff further into the orb. Voices of all the beings it had stored were screaming out in fear and pain, and Drakken continued his assault.

"Kim, come on! This whole place is coming down around us!" Ron called from the hall, unable to enter.

"You are indeed all that, Kim Possible!" Drakken added. "Go!" Kim nodded, wincing as the thick red smoke began filling the room. As she left through the doorway, Drakken turned back to Hephaestus, looking into the heart of the alien forge with his mechanical eye. "Time to drop the hammer! Muahahahah!" He twisted the staff in it's center, listening for the charging tone of the weapon's more lethal mode, and spun it with his wrist, sending black shards of solid glass in every direction.

* * *

Wade didn't allow himself the luxury of looking back when Drakken's fortress began to collapse into light. Below them were human resistance soldiers and vehicles that had begun mobilizing against BN Headquarters, rescuing human survivors and attempting to push through the perimeter synthodrones.

As Wade began to dive the skyscooter toward the military force below them, Joss shifted her eyes to look back. The entire blackened, ugly form of the fortress and the metropolis surrounding it was breaking down into light, like a glass sculpture shattering into fragments in the sun. "She did it..." she whispered with as much of a smile as she could muster before her eyes closed.


	23. Let There Be Light

Let There Be Light

"This is Free..." Monique began, then hesitated a moment before clearing her throat and beginning to speak into the microphone again. "This is Monique Watson, the voice of Freedom Two..."

As the radio changed from static to speech, an acrid yellow smoke wafted throughout the Passages; the result of an intense battle waged with an army of synthodrones versus spinning tops of doom, neural destabilizing sporks, and a two person team consisting of a thin blond woman surrounded in the aura of a ghostly bear and a man in black armor similar to one of Kim's team.

Anne Possible helped a wounded middle aged man onto a cot, instructing him to rest until someone had time to tend to him. The battle had been intense, and it had seemed that it had been nearly lost until finally the synthodrones had begun popping inexplicably.

"Josh?! Tara?!" she called, searching through the crowd of people in the circle they had created as a defensible position.

"Aunty Annie?" Larry called, wading through the injured to reach her. He was bleeding from a gash on his forehead, and a large burn adorned one arm where an energy bolt had torn away his shoulder armor. His glasses were missing and he stumbled toward her as though he was nearly blind.

"Larry!" Anne cried, hugging the young man. "Thank you for coming!"

Larry blushed. "I couldn't let Junior and Dash have all the excitement." he said, nearly in a daze. "Besides, that was just like Nimbus Three, and the battle of Nimbanar!" he laughed with a snort. Anne shrugged, content in the fact that her nephew had made it through the battle alive.

"Hey!" Jim Possible shouted from down one of the tunnels.

"Over here!" Tim called.

* * *

  
Josh snapped awake to the sound of his son crying beside him. He bolted upright, tearing through a layer of thickened synthogoo and sucking in a burst of air before nearly choking on it. He felt his chest in an effort to make certain he was corporeal, then began a quick search for Tara and Joss.

The crying was close by, and he stood, tearing up layers of yellow goop as he did. "Tara!" he shouted. "Hana!"

A bubble in the synthogoo began to form as Tara attempted to stand, the dried pudding like substance tearing as it stretched. Her head broke through and she heaved a sigh, still holding the tiny baby in her arms. "Josh? Where are..." she asked, turning as he put his arms around his family. "Where's Hana?"

"Yuck!" the girl said. She was covered in the yellow gunk, and Josh stared at her in disbelief. "Okay?" she asked with a frown.

Josh thought for a moment, remembering the image of the girl disappearing in amongst the synthodrones, in a pillar of blue light that splintered into hundreds of monkey-like ghost creatures. They had then proceeded to grind their way through the synthetic soldiers, turning their robotic formation into chaos. He gestured for the young Japanese girl to join them, kneeling down to hug her as well. The four of them never even noticed the Possible's coming up behind them and throwing blankets over their shoulders.

* * *

  
"Our freedom has been won, our humanity saved. I've been given reports that Lord Drakken's fortress has literally vanished into light, much like many of the people he took that we knew as friends and family." Monique said over the radio Wade was standing beside.

He was watching the midday sun shine on the still disintegrating metropolis, feeling the heat radiating off of the energy that Drakken's fortress was being reverted into.

Soldiers in Monique's resistance cell bustled around him, giving him space as his body trembled. He clenched his teeth hard together as he suppressed a cry, watching the very thing that had taken so much from the world turn into something beautiful.

"Hey!" Joss called, rolling forward in a wheelchair with a smug smile. "Gonna leave me an' Rufus alone with those medics? If I get any more morphine, I might do something with you I probably won't regret." Wade turned back and forced a smile. "They haven't shown up yet, huh?"

Wade shook his head. "How could they make it out of there?" he asked, wiping his cheeks. "It's..."

"Impossible?" Joss grinned.

* * *

  
"I haven't received word yet if Kim Possible and her team have made it out of Drakken's lair." Monique said, pushing on through obvious tears. "But wherever she is, we thank you. Humanity thanks you. The Earth thanks you. And I'm sure that all the people that have sacrificed their lives to this point, thank you. Good bye, my friend."

Junior was looking away from a tender red burn on one of his arms as Olivia Nelson put a cooling salve on his bicep. The man whimpered softly, nearly crying it seemed and Olivia shook her head with a smile. She wished her brother could be here, to see that he had been wrong about Drakken, and right about Kim.

"Ah, put a sock in it!" Duff Killgan said as he sat down next to Junior. "There's people wit lost limbs, and yer tearin' up ova a bloody sunburn!" he said, flicking Junior's injury with a finger.

* * *

  
"Now though, the rest of us are tasked with rebuilding our world." Monique continued over the radio. "Whether the heroes of our generation are able to come back to us or not, it's now up to us to make the most of their sacrifice. We that have survived have to remember the mistakes that have come before and give the next generation something to look forward to."

Professor Icari grinned down at the tiny little green stem that was poking out of fresh, hand plowed soil. "It worked!" he cheered, his substantially reduced midsection still jiggling somewhat with his laughter. He turned, hugging the still plump Native American man that stood beside him around the shoulders. "It worked!" he shouted.

Cheif Sakituya smiled down at the white haired professor, watching him dance around in the dirt. The Indian Chief nodded, looking out toward the moving hills in the distance. Where the Professor had found the giant sized cockroaches was beyond him, but the creatures were literally devouring the wreckage brought onto the Earth over the last several years of war and turning it into a form of high mineral fertilizer.

The large grey bear that was slumped on the ground next to him sniffed at the air and let out a gruff whine. The Indian Chief looked up to the sky, holding out a hand to feel a raindrop.

* * *

  
"This is Monique Watson. What was once the voice of hope is now the voice of freedom. Freedom to live again, and the freedom to build again."

Steve Barkin was holding the exploded husk of a synthodrone in one hand and a large survival knife in the other, his face covered in yellow goop. He was wearing a red head band and an empty bandolier, standing at the forefront of the circular defense that had been constructed at the heart of the Passages. Arthur Smarty stood behind him, awkwardly holding one of the synthodrone's rifles.

At some point, Steve's shirt had been torn off in the battle and he stood up, dropping the husk and surveying the carnage. He turned to pat Arty on the shoulder, and smiled down at the freckle faced teen he had adopted as his own since he father had died at the hands of Drakken's minions. "You did well, kid. Thanks for watching my back."

Arty nodded in acknowledgement.

* * *

  
"It is unlikely that Drakken will be the last one to try taking away everything we hold dear to us." Monique continued, her voice coming through the radio scanner inside the underwater Worldwide Empire base. "But to put our fate on the shoulders of one person is not a luxury we can afford any longer."

"Are you still listening to that, Jade?" Grimm asked, stepping into the control room wearing a suit of black battle armor with gold high lights that fit tightly against his body, with it's own plated musculature and wicked blades that stuck out from his forearms and could extend backward past his elbows. Rhonda strode in behind him confidently, brushing off her tan leather longcoat that had tassels along the length of each arm.

"It beats the utter silence of the ocean." the young Japanese woman replied, spinning in her chair. "How're the new duds?"

Grimm reached up to the unmarked button on the collar that poked out from under the armor. The plating seemed to liquefy and quietly pull itself into the skin tight, black and gold blueprint that he wore underneath. "I'm glad you did away with the flash and crash." he said, noting the difference in the far more stealthy activation than Possible's.

"Do we really still need this stuff?" Rhonda asked. "And to stay hiding?"

Grimm gestured to the radio that Monique's voice had been coming through. "Like the lady said, there's always gonna be someone wanting a bigger piece of the pie than they should." he said, flashing a knowing smirk. "And we'll be there to take it back."

* * *

  
Kim was lying on her side in blue tinged sand, wearing what was left of her Global Justice uniform as a makeshift bikini and skirt. Ron was lying behind her, curled up to her back with his own ravaged uniform made into an awkward looking loin cloth. His wounds and bruises had healed quickly after a rest, and he was propped up on an elbow, watching the fire they had built on the beach. The lake of Eden Two licked at their bare toes and goose bumps formed over their bodies with each lap of cool water.

Kim smiled, snuggling into Ron's warmth and letting out a quiet cooing sound as his arm tightened around her chest. "How long before you think Felix will find out we're here?" Ron asked, kissing her shoulder.

Kim rolled over onto her back in the flame heated sand, looking up into Ron's brown eyes and the fire light dancing within them. "I'm almost wondering if he had noticed at all, actually. I would have thought that he would have been here already." she said, recalling their narrow escape from Drakken's collapsing lair.

* * *

  
"I... I can't make it back up there, Kim." Ron said, falling to his knees at the bottom of the elevator shaft that lead back up to Drakken's throne room. "I'm tapped out."

Kim surveyed the rapidly disintegrating basement level of Drakken's fortress, pulling out her Kimmunicator to scan the schematics for the building again. "Come on!" she ordered, taking Ron's hand and practically dragging him down the hall toward a room labeled 'PORTAL' adjacent to the Containment Chamber.

They reached the large, locked reinforced door and Kim banged her fist on it in frustration. The walls, floor, and ceiling were all transforming into bright points of light around them, and the metal superstructure above them began to creak and strain with the sudden lack of support holding it all up. "This would look pretty cool if we weren't about to be buried alive!" Ron shouted, covering his head.

Kim watched as the reinforced door began to disassemble into shining pixels, and she pushed through it, closing her eyes and gritting her teeth against the searing burns that were beginning to cover her body, tearing away her uniform. "Ron!" she called, grabbing his hand again to pull him through with her.

The pair burst through the fading door to see a large machine with immense power coils that were unlit on either side of its main bulk. Above the machine, a ring of metal was supported by frail looking tethers that were holding it in place. "A Kinetic Continuing Disturber thingy?!" Ron exclaimed. "But there's no power!"

"It's a Kinematic Continuum Disruptor. Kinda like the one Justine used." Kim corrected. "Drakken's personal back door into Eden Two... I hope." she said, plugging the Kimmunicator's power cable into the machine. Doing her best to remember what she had learned on the science project she had shared with Justine Flanner, she activated the machine's warm up sequence. "Come on..." she whispered, her heart pounding heavily in her chest. Light filled the room as the walls collapsed, and the ceiling began to bend and twist. "It's now or never, Ron!"

The pair began running toward the spinning metal ring, and crossed the threshold as the KCD reached optimal power levels, a moment before it was crushed by the weight of hundreds of stories of metal losing it's foundation.

* * *

  
Kim couldn't help but wonder if anyone would ever know, or even want to know about Drakken's end. In reality, it was he that saved the world by destroying the alien Forge. She had been so close to joining it, just like Vivian had said. The thoughts it was pushing into her mind had felt so much like her own, and she wanted so badly to see her father again. For now though, it was all over, and Kim brought Ron's face down to hers for a passionate, open mouthed kiss. "On the other hand, I could get used to a few more days of honeymoon time." she said, her lips turning up in a blushing smile.

"Boo-yah..." Ron grinned back, proceeding to tickle Kim's exposed areas.

* * *

  
Felix and Yori stood high above Kim and Ron on a hilltop, holding hands and smiling at the peaceful scene. The sudden surge of temporal energy had set off his scanner that he had managed to construct at their new home on Mount Yamanouchi. At first, he had thought that Drakken had managed to escape into Eden Two, and when no attack came and his fortress had wound up disintegrating into beads of light, his best guess was that he was constructing a new Empire.  
Taking Yori with him into Eden, he had taken Wade and Joss's skyscooter through a portal created by Justine's original KCD on a reconnaissance mission to where Drakken's portal had been created.

It had been nearly a week since the Synthetic Empire had fallen, and still Kim and Ron's friends were mourning them. Felix sighed, not wanting to disturb their well deserved rest. "Let's go, Yori." he said, turning away.

"Are we not going to bring them back to Earth?" she asked, following.

"Kim's saved our world enough." Felix said with a grin. "Let her have some fun in this one." Yori climbed onto the skyscooter behind him, pulling herself against his back. "We'll let her family and friends know that they're okay. Other than that, they can have some peace."

* * *

**A very big thank you to all who have reviewed this story, and lent your input. You've helped shape this and I'm quite proud of how it came to completion. It represents a lot of things in my life, from two great television shows from two completely different decades. A special thanks goes to Slyrr, for allowing me to use his original characters of Grimm and Rhonda. I'd also like to show my gratitude to Neo the Saiyan Angel and Katsumara, both of whom gave me a lot of input throughout the story.**


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